Former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has strongly refuted allegations leveled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) regarding the recovery of $322.5 million in looted funds from the late General Sani Abacha’s era, describing the claims as “baseless, illogical, and wholly devoid of substance.”
In a detailed statement released by his office on Monday, signed by Special Assistant on Media Mohammed Bello Doka, Malami addressed his recent invitation by the EFCC on November 28, 2025. The anti-graft agency is investigating what it describes as a potential duplication in the recovery process of the funds, originally valued at $310 million but increased to $322.5 million due to accrued interest. The EFCC’s probe centers on two primary allegations: abuse of office and money laundering.
According to Malami, the EFCC’s narrative hinges on the assertion that the funds had already been recovered by Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini prior to Malami’s tenure, which began in 2015 under the Buhari administration. The former AGF is accused of unnecessarily restarting the process to engage other lawyers, allegedly for personal kickbacks.
Malami dismissed these claims outright, emphasizing that asset recovery is only considered complete upon the actual deposit of funds into Nigeria’s Federation Account. He stated that as of 2016, when his administration initiated the recovery efforts, no such deposit had been made, rendering any talk of duplication unfounded.
A key point in Malami’s defense is Monfrini’s own application in December 2016 to be engaged for the recovery—despite the alleged prior completion in 2014.
“It is entirely illogical for a lawyer to apply in December 2016 to be engaged to recover funds he purportedly recovered two years earlier,” Malami argued in the statement.
Monfrini’s proposed terms included a $5 million upfront deposit and a 40% success fee, later reduced to 20%. These were rejected in favor of a Nigerian law firm engaged on a transparent 5% success fee basis with no advance payments, aligning with the Buhari government’s policy to cap such fees and avoid upfront costs.
This decision, Malami claimed, resulted in substantial savings for Nigeria: at least 15% (approximately ₦76.8 billion at an exchange rate of ₦1,600 to the dollar) compared to Monfrini’s revised 20% demand, and up to 35% (about ₦179.2 billion) against his initial proposal.
He portrayed the move as a responsible exercise of his constitutional discretion, prioritizing public interest and transparency.
The statement also clarified distinct tranches of Abacha loot recoveries under Malami’s watch. The $322.5 million from Switzerland, repatriated between 2017 and 2018, was allocated to the National Social Investment Programme for conditional cash transfers to vulnerable Nigerians, with oversight from the World Bank and civil society organizations. Separately, another $321 million was recovered in 2020 from the Island of Jersey, involving U.S. and Swiss authorities, and directed toward infrastructure projects like the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kano Road, and the Second Niger Bridge.
Malami warned against conflating these recoveries or misrepresenting the process as duplicative, labeling the EFCC’s investigation as potentially misleading. He expressed gratitude to his supporters, family, and political allies for their backing amid what he termed a “political witch-hunt and intimidation,” and affirmed his confidence that “truth, law, and reason will ultimately prevail.”
The EFCC has not yet issued a public response to Malami’s statement.
