Former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami SAN has insisted that his only interaction with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC was strictly limited to clarifications on an alleged duplication in the recovery of Abacha loot.
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Malami said his engagement with the EFCC had nothing to do with terrorism financing money laundering or the ownership of multiple bank accounts as reported in some media outlets.
In a statement issued by his media office on Wednesday Malami dismissed the allegations as false misleading and baseless insisting that no security intelligence or law enforcement agency in Nigeria or abroad had ever accused investigated or questioned him over terrorism financing or multiple bank accounts.
He stressed that the EFCC only invited him to clarify concerns surrounding the 310 million dollars Abacha loot recovered under the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
My engagement with the EFCC was strictly limited to addressing concerns about an alleged duplication of the recovery process That was the only issue they sought clarification on he said.
Malami explained that the EFCC reviewed two assumptions alleged abuse of office and alleged money laundering but found no grounds to proceed after he provided detailed explanations.
I comprehensively demonstrated to the EFCC that no duplication occurred because the funds were not lodged into the Federation Account before 2016 There was no completed recovery at the time he said.
He pointed to a 2016 request by Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini for re engagement as further proof that the initial recovery process had not been concluded.
Malami said the Buhari administration rejected Monfrinis demand for a 5 million dollars upfront fee and a success fee of up to 40 percent opting instead for Nigerian lawyers whose fee was capped at 5 percent. The decision he said saved the country billions.
He explained that different tranches of Abacha loot were repatriated at different times noting that the 322.5 million dollars returned from Switzerland between 2017 and 2018 was deployed to the National Social Investment Programme under World Bank supervision while the 321 million dollars from Jersey in 2020 funded major infrastructure projects including the Lagos Ibadan Expressway Abuja Kano Road and the Second Niger Bridge.
Malami argued that attempts to conflate the separate recoveries or portray them as duplicated were deliberately misleading.
Efforts to twist the facts and present the recoveries as duplication are nothing but deliberate mischief he said.
He also addressed media reports citing a retired military officer who was claimed to have accused him of terrorism financing. According to Malami the retired officer has publicly clarified that he never made such an allegation but the correction was overshadowed by sensational reporting.
Reaffirming his contributions to Nigerias anti corruption and anti terror financing frameworks Malami noted his role in establishing the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit NFIU and championing the 2022 AML CFT reforms that removed Nigeria from the FATF grey list.
He urged Nigerians to disregard what his office described as a coordinated smear campaign stating I remain confident that truth will prevail over political witch hunt misinformation and intimidation.
Meanwhile EFCC sources confirmed that Malami remains in the custody of the agency after failing to meet bail conditions earlier granted to him. One official said he would remain detained until he fulfills the terms.
Another EFCC source alleged that the former minister is being investigated for 18 offences including money laundering abuse of office and terrorism financing claiming investigators continue to uncover new information as the probe deepens.
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