A FEDERAL High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday admitted nine documentary exhibits against a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, his wife, Hajiya Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, in an ongoing alleged money laundering trial.
News Point Nigeria reports that the presiding judge, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, admitted the documents after they were tendered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through its fourth prosecution witness.
The anti-graft agency is prosecuting the defendants on an amended 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing, and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities totalling N8,713,923,759.49.
According to the prosecution, the alleged offences are in violation of the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The documents admitted as exhibits, mostly banking records, were tendered through Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank Plc.
While being led in evidence by prosecution counsel, J. S. Okutepa, the witness informed the court that he received a request from the EFCC in the course of his official duties, asking for documents linked to accounts associated with the defendants and certain corporate entities.
“I work as a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, Maitama branch. My duty includes receiving correspondence from law enforcement agencies and responding accordingly,” he said.
Bata further told the court that the bank complied with the request by providing both electronic and hard copies of documents relating to accounts connected to the defendants and several companies, including Rayhaan Hotels Limited, Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited, Nashab Limited, Golden Age Global Ventures, and Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.
He confirmed that the nine documents presented before the court were those supplied by the bank in response to the EFCC’s request and that he could identify them when shown.
Following an application by the prosecution, the court admitted the documents dated between July 19, 2024, and March 12, 2026 as Exhibits D1 to D9.
Defence counsel, J. B. Daudu, had initially objected, pointing out that most of the documents were dated in March. However, the court overruled the objection and admitted them into evidence.
Under further examination by prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanach, the witness provided details of transactions contained in the exhibits.
He identified Exhibit D1 as including account opening documents and statements for accounts belonging to Malami and A.A. Malami & Co, covering both naira and dollar accounts.
According to him, one of the account statements detailed transactions spanning from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2023.
He noted that the accounts remained active between 2015 and 2023, with several transfers recorded within the period under review.
Bata told the court that total credits into one of the accounts amounted to N383,637,021.55 between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2023, while credits between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2015, stood at N560,506,465.12.
On the debit side, he stated that N384,322,120.85 was recorded between 2016 and 2023, while N571,891,174.08 was debited between 2012 and 2015.
The witness also highlighted specific inflows into the accounts, stating that on November 11, 2020, the account received N194,791,608 from New Horizons Limited.
He added that on June 24, 2022, a sum of N622.5 million was credited to the account from Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.
According to him, the account further received N250 million each on July 1 and July 7, 2022, from Rayhaan Hotels Limited, while another inflow of N500 million was recorded on December 22, 2022, linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.
The witness told the court that several other transactions running into billions of naira were reflected in the documents tendered as exhibits.
Following the testimony, defence counsel requested an adjournment to enable adequate study of the exhibits and preparation for cross-examination.
“My Lord, we need time to go through the nine exhibits tendered,” Daudu said.
Justice Abdulmalik granted the request and adjourned the matter until May 13, 2026, for continuation of the trial.