Operatives of Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies on Wednesday evening cordoned off the residence of a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, in what sources described as a major escalation in a high-profile corruption investigation.
Sources told PRNigeria that several enforcement vehicles belonging to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accompanied by armed operatives, were deployed to a residence linked to Malami, where Nana Hadiza Buhari, his third wife and a daughter of former President Muhammadu Buhari, was reportedly present.
The development comes amid Malami’s continued detention by the EFCC over a wide-ranging probe bordering on alleged corruption, money laundering, terrorism financing, and controversies surrounding the management of recovered Abacha loot.
Malami, who served as Nigeria’s chief law officer between 2015 and 2023, married Nana Hadiza Buhari in July 2022 in a private ceremony held at the Presidential Villa Mosque, Aso Rock, during the final year of the Buhari administration.
She is the former president’s third daughter.
EFCC officials have maintained that although Malami was earlier granted administrative bail, the bail was “effectively revoked” after he allegedly failed to meet key conditions attached to it.
The commission insists that he remains in “lawful custody” pending further compliance and extended interrogation.
Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that Malami alleged that operatives of EFCC operatives carried out coordinated raids on his offices and private residences shortly after his camp publicly referenced Chapter 9 of the Justice Ayo Salami Judicial Commission of Inquiry Report.
A press release issued on Wednesday and signed by Mohammed Bello Doka, Special Assistant on Media to Malami, said the EFCC action occurred “immediately after the release of our statement addressing Chapter 9 of the Salami Report.”
According to the statement, EFCC operatives “carried out coordinated raids on our offices and on the private residences of Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, in Abuja and Kebbi State.”
The office alleged that the raids were conducted “without prior notice” and were “expressly directed at searching for documents allegedly connected to Chapter 9 of the Salami Report.”
Malami’s camp described the development as “deeply alarming,” noting that it followed closely after “a public call for the EFCC Chairman’s recusal on grounds of bias arising from Chapter 9.”
“This development,” the statement said, “raise[s] grave concerns about intimidation, retaliation, and the safety of our staff and of Abubakar Malami, SAN.”
The office further claimed that it was placing “Nigerians and the international community on notice,” warning that “any harm to our personnel or to Abubakar Malami, SAN, will be solely attributable to this pattern of conduct.”
In the statement, Malami’s office urged Nigerians, particularly journalists, to interrogate the timing and legality of the EFCC’s actions, calling on the media to ask “vital and germane questions.”
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