By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) raided the Abuja and Kebbi State residences and offices of former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Wednesday, December 17.
The report of the raids was announced in a statement by Malami’s media aide, Mohammed Doka, which was shared on the former minister’s Facebook page on Wednesday.
Malami has been in the EFCC’s custody since December 8 over investigations into corruption allegations against him.
Malami, who is one of the ministers who served under former Muhammadu Buhari and currently under EFCC’s investigations, is being asked to account for his investment allegedly worth N10 billion in Kebbi State, and some recovered Abacha loot, which was $322 million from the Swiss account and about $22 million from the Island of Jersey in the United Kingdom.
The EFCC also confirmed the raids on Wednesday, saying the search was necessary for its ongoing investigation of the former minister.
“It is in furtherance of our ongoing investigation. It was not a raid; it was a search.
“When a suspect is being investigated, we normally conduct searches in line with our investigation,” the commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, disclosed on Wednesday.
In the statement, Malami alleged that the raids were triggered by an earlier press release on Wednesday.
The earlier statement referenced the Justice Ayo Salami Judicial Commission of Inquiry’s report, which Malami claimed indicted the EFCC chair, Ola Olukoyede, for his activities as the secretary to the EFCC from 2018 to 2020.
The former AGF specifically alluded to Chapter 9 of the report, which he said focused on Olukoyede.
Malami, in the later statement, noted that following the disclosure in the earlier press release, EFCC operatives “carried out coordinated raids on our offices and on the private residences of Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, in Abuja and Kebbi State.
“These actions were carried out without prior notice and were expressly directed at searching for documents allegedly connected to Chapter 9 of the Salami Report,” the statement added.
Recall also that Malami, on Monday, December 15, called for the recusal of Olukoyede from his probe by the EFCC, claiming his probe, arrest, and detention by the EFCC were “driven by deep-seated historical animosity and a malicious personal vendetta orchestrated by the EFCC Chairman.”
The EFCC has also denied allegations of bias and unlawful conduct raised by Malami in the wake of his probe by the commission.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the commission’s spokesperson, Oyewale, dismissed claims that Malami’s bail was revoked because he attended a political gathering in Kebbi State.
Oyewale said Malami was granted administrative bail on 28 November after interrogation, pending the conclusion of investigations and possible arraignment.
