$490m Abacha Loot: Malami Speaks On EFCC Allegation

Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has responded to allegations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) regarding the recovery process of the Abacha loot, which originally amounted to $310 million and later totaled $322.5 million, with accrued interest.

Malami characterized these claims as “baseless, illogical, and wholly devoid of substance.”

In a statement released on Sunday and signed by his media aide, Mohammed Doka, Malami acknowledged that he had been invited by the EFCC on November 28, 2025, to address allegations of abuse of office and money laundering associated with the recovery. He asserted that these accusations fell apart when thoroughly examined.

The day following his EFCC engagement, on November 29, Malami reported that the meeting had been productive, indicating a favorable outcome from the inquiry.

“The EFCC’s position is that I duplicated a recovery process allegedly completed by a Swiss lawyer, Mr. Enrico Monfrini, before I assumed office.

“This allegation collapses immediately when subjected to facts and elementary logic,” Malami said.

Malami insisted no such recovery had been completed before he took office in 2015, noting that recovered funds can only be considered complete upon lodgement into the Federation Account.

“As at 2016, there was no lodgement of any such funds into the Federation Account. There was therefore no completed recovery in existence, and nothing whatsoever to duplicate,” he said.

He further revealed that Monfrini himself applied in December 2016 to be re-engaged for the same recovery—proof, he said, that the claim of prior completion was illogical.

“It is entirely illogical for a lawyer to apply in December 2016 to be engaged to recover funds he purportedly recovered two years earlier.

“That singular fact exposes the internal contradiction and absurdity of the EFCC’s narrative,” Malami stated.

According to him, Monfrini demanded a $5 million upfront deposit and a success fee of 40 per cent—later reduced to 20 per cent—terms the Buhari administration rejected.

Instead, a Nigerian law firm was hired on a 5 per cent success-fee arrangement, which he said saved the country between 15 and 35 per cent of the recovered funds, amounting to between ₦76.8 billion and ₦179.2 billion.

“These are concrete, measurable benefits to the Nigerian state,” he said.

Malami also clarified that he oversaw multiple, distinct tranches of Abacha loot:

– $322.5 million from Switzerland (2017–2018) deployed to Conditional Cash Transfers under World Bank-monitored transparency mechanisms;
– About $321 million from Jersey (2020) earmarked for major infrastructure projects, including the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kano Road and Second Niger Bridge.

“Any attempt to conflate these distinct recoveries or to portray a lawful, cost-saving recovery process as duplication is misleading,” he added.

He stressed that the constitutional powers of the Attorney-General in asset recovery were exercised “strictly in the public interest.”

“In the circumstances of this case, that discretion was exercised transparently and responsibly.

“Any claim suggesting abuse of office or money laundering is not rooted in any reasonable ground for suspicion,” he said.

Malami thanked his supporters nationwide and described the probe as a political witch-hunt.

“Together we shall continue to stand firm, and together we shall triumph against every form of political witch-hunt and intimidation,” he said.

He concluded with confidence that the investigation would vindicate him.

“The allegations remain baseless, illogical and entirely devoid of substance. I remain confident that truth, law and reason will ultimately prevail,” he declared.