Witnesses Detail Multimillion-Naira Inflows To Ex-AGF Abubakar Malami’s Hotel Accounts

The trial of former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, resumed on Monday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, with prosecution witnesses presenting evidence related to transactions involving a hotel account and various loan facilities.

When the matter was called, Malami and his wife were present in court, while their son joined them almost immediately as the court was about to stand the matter down for an hour.

The prosecution team was led by Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, alongside Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, while Joseph Daudu, SAN, S. A. Aruwa, and other lawyers represented the defendants before Joyce Abdulmalik.

At the resumed proceedings, Okutepa called the second prosecution witness, Simon Kwayim Daniel.

Daniel told the court that he works with Union Bank of Nigeria at its Area Garki branch in Abuja in the compliance department.

He described himself as a regulatory liaison officer who interacts with regulators on behalf of the bank’s Abuja branches.

According to him, the regulators include government agencies that supervise the banking industry in Nigeria.

He added that his duties include reviewing account openings, authorising closures, and conducting investigations relating to regulatory issues and customer complaints.

Daniel told the court that in December 2025, the bank received a request from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

He said the letter was “requesting us to provide an account opening package of Meethaq Hotels Limited in account 0179011105 and the statement of account, certificate of compliance, and any other useful information that will aid EFCC investigation.”

The witness said the bank provided the requested information and related documents on December 23, 2025.

Okutepa then showed him the documents, including a letter he signed. After confirming them, the prosecution sought to tender the documents as evidence.

The defence, led by Daudu, did not object but said it would raise any issues “if there is any at the final address.”

Justice Abdulmalik subsequently admitted the documents from Union Bank as Exhibits B Series.

Continuing his testimony, Daniel told the court that the statement of account revealed several transfers from the account of Meethaq Hotels Ltd.

He said that on February 5 and March 4, 2024, transfers of N14m and N24m respectively were made from the company’s account in favour of Malami.

He added, “On 3rd of April 2024, there was another transfer of 24 million in favour of AA Malami and Co.”

According to him, on May 3, 2024, there was another transfer of N12.5m from the same company in favour of AA Malami and Co.

Daniel also told the court that the sole signatory to the account of Meethaq Hotels Ltd is Asabe Bashir, whom he identified as Malami’s wife.

When asked if he knew her, the witness pointed toward Malami’s wife and identified her as “the woman seated in the dock as the account signatory.”

He further confirmed from the documents that “Her ID CARD is on pages 11 and 12 of Exhibits B Series. And on page 10 is the resolution of the board of the account, which introduced her as the sole signatory to the account.”

The witness also told the court that “the statement of account of Meethaq Hotels Ltd is from page 34 to 41” and contains details of inflows and outflows.

Daniel also identified several deposits into the account. According to him, on November 3, 2022, the hotel account received deposits including N1,277,500 from one Abubakar.

He said another deposit of N21,242,209 was made on November 8, 2022, while N685,200 was also deposited on the same day.

He added that on November 18, 2022, a transfer of N1,047,019.55 was received.

On November 28, 2022, the account received N10m from YMB Energy Limited, as reflected on page 34 of the statement.

The witness also confirmed a transfer of N4,565,326.58 from another Meethaq Hotels Ltd account on December 2, 2022. He said the account received N4,828,660.18 on December 5, 2022, and N1,083,686.44 on December 20, 2022.

According to him, on January 10, 2023, deposits of N43,177,458.94 and N4,650,761.50 were recorded. Other deposits included N915,540.84 on January 17, 2023, and N2,548,305.24 on February 3, 2023, from another account belonging to the hotel.

He added, “On 3 March 2023, there was also an inflow of 11,166,235.10 from another account of the hotel.”

The witness further said the account received N1,118,814.64 on March 14, 2023, while over N13m was credited on April 3, 2023, and over N1m on April 14, 2023.

During cross-examination, Daudu asked the witness about his role at the bank.

Daniel told the court that he “joined the Union Bank on 4 August 2014 for almost 12 years and has been in the compliance department from August 4 2014, to date.”

He agreed that there is a difference between a compliance officer and a relationship officer, but said he is not a relationship officer.

According to him, a relationship manager’s primary responsibility is to bring customers to the bank and process loans and other services.

The witness added, “All account openings in the branch are subject to my review and approval.” He also said he met Malami’s wife at the bank’s Maitama branch, where the account was opened.

Asked to describe AA Malami and Co, the witness said the name appeared as a beneficiary in a third-party transfer.

He said he believed the name referred to Malami himself and not his son because he does not know the son as a lawyer.

However, the witness added that he did not know whether the transfers reflected in Exhibits B Series were commercial transactions and did not know the purpose of the transactions.

After the testimony of the second witness, the prosecution called a third witness, Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank Plc.

Egoro told the court that he works in the compliance department and responds to requests from law enforcement agencies.

According to him, “I send out responses to law enforcement agents like EFCC, SSS, etc.”

He said the bank received a letter from the EFCC requesting documents relating to Rayhaan Bustan, Agro Allied Ltd and Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative.

Egoro said the bank initially sent the response by email before forwarding hard copies of the documents.

After confirming letters dated March 9 and February 5, 2026, the prosecution sought to tender them in evidence.

Daudu said the defence did not oppose the tendering but sought clarification on whether the witness’s name appeared in the witness statement.

In response, Okutepa told the court that the list of witnesses attached to the charge included representatives of different banks.

He added that “Access Bank is not human,” explaining that the witness was representing the bank.

Although the judge did not fully agree with the prosecution’s position, she ruled that the witness should testify and the defence would cross-examine him.

Justice Abdulmalik subsequently admitted the letters as Exhibits C1 and C2.

Testifying further, Egoro said the account of Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Ltd had a sole signatory identified as Abdulaziz Malami Abubakar, whom he described as Malami’s son.

He told the court, “My lord, the letter of offer for the 400 million loan is on page 4 to page 4E, while the Memorandum of acceptance, which forms part of the letter of offer, can also be found on page 4.”

He said the N400m loan facility was disbursed on October 9, 2020, and fully repaid on July 14, 2022.

According to him, part of the loan included a N100m disbursement to New Horizon Limited on November 10, 2020.

He also told the court that on the same date, the account recorded a N4m debit as management fees, another debit of N300,000, and another transaction exceeding N1m.

Referring to Exhibit C2, the witness also testified about the account of Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative.

He said the account statement reflected several deposits, including N500,000 on October 17, 2019, and another N500,000 on October 21 by Abdulaziz Malami Abubakar.

Other deposits listed included N1,720,000 on October 28, N1,500,000 on October 29, N1,200,000 on October 30, and N8m on November 4, 2019.

He added that the account also received N1m on November 5, N2m on November 14, and N1m on November 27, 2019, from Aliyu Kwando.

Further deposits included over N1m on January 5, 2020, N10m on January 29, 2020, and N5m on January 23, 2020.

During cross-examination, Egoro told the court that he is a certified anti-money laundering personnel but not a staff member of the EFCC.

He added that he did not know the purpose of the inflows listed in the account statements and did not personally know the individuals who made the deposits.

After the cross-examination, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter until April 20 for continuation of the trial.