A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, along with his wife and son, bail in the sum of five hundred million naira each.
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the bail on Wednesday after the trio were arraigned on a sixteen-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, bordering on alleged money laundering.
The court imposed stringent bail conditions, directing that the sureties must own landed property in highbrow areas of Abuja, including Asokoro, Maitama and Gwarinpa.
The property documents are to be verified by the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court, while the sureties are also required to depose to affidavits of means.
Justice Nwite further ordered Malami to surrender his international passport and other travelling documents to the court, with a restriction barring him from travelling outside the country without prior permission of the court.
Both the defendants and their sureties were also directed to submit two recent passport photographs each to the court registry.
Pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions, the former Attorney-General is to be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre.
The court has fixed February 17 for the commencement of trial in the matter.
The EFCC is prosecuting Malami, his wife and son over alleged financial transactions said to involve about nine billion naira.
It will be recalled that on December 18, 2025, an FCT High Court had upheld Malami’s continued detention by the EFCC after he failed to meet administrative bail conditions set by the anti-graft agency.
Justice Babangida Hassan had ruled at the time that the detention was lawful under the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.