Former Sokoto State Governor and Senator representing Sokoto South, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has paid a visit to former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), at the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Abuja, amid Malami’s ongoing money laundering trial.
Sources familiar with the development told Chronicles Reporters that Tambuwal’s visit, which took place on Saturday, was centred on discussions about “the way forward” as Malami continues to face multiple legal and security challenges.
Malami is currently standing trial alongside his son, Abdulaziz Malami (SAN), and one of his wives, Bashir Asabe, over a 16-count charge instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The defendants are accused of laundering a total sum of ₦8.7 billion.
On Wednesday, January 7, 2026, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, granted Malami and the two other defendants bail in the sum of ₦500 million each, with two sureties per defendant. The court ordered that the sureties must own landed property in highbrow areas of Abuja, including Asokoro, Maitama, or Gwarinpa, and must deposit their travel documents with the court.
Justice Nwite further directed that the property documents be verified by the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court, while the sureties are to swear to affidavits of means. Malami was also ordered to submit his international travel documents and barred from leaving the country without the court’s permission.
Earlier, the same court ordered the interim forfeiture of 57 properties allegedly linked to Malami, following an ex-parte application filed by EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho (SAN). The EFCC claimed the properties, spread across Abuja, Kebbi, Kano, and Kaduna states, were suspected proceeds of unlawful activities.
Despite being granted bail, Malami has reportedly remained in custody, allegedly delaying the completion of his bail conditions. Sources said this decision followed a heavy deployment of operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to the Kuje Correctional Centre.
It was gathered that more than 50 DSS operatives, conveyed in about six Toyota Hilux vans, took up strategic positions around the facility, closely monitoring all movements in and out of the prison. The deployment was described as a preemptive security measure amid concerns that Malami could be re-arrested in connection with a separate investigation bordering on alleged terrorism financing.
According to insiders, Malami instructed his legal team to slow down the bail process over fears that he might be immediately rearrested upon release.
He is said to be held in the facility’s VIP segregation cell, a section reportedly refurbished by former police intelligence chief, Abba Kyari, and previously used to detain other high-profile inmates.
Meanwhile, fresh allegations have continued to trail the former AGF. A whistleblower, John Kpurhe, recently accused Malami and other senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice, alongside a private businessman, of allegedly diverting over $1.03 billion belonging to the Federal Government through a cloned Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) bank account.
Those mentioned in the petition include a senior official in the ministry’s Asset Recovery Unit, a confidential secretary, and the chairman of a private company. The funds were allegedly lodged in a cloned Unity Bank account linked to the NPA and fraudulently withdrawn.
In a related development, Tambuwal’s visit also coincided with a change in leadership at the Kuje Correctional Centre. DCC R.A. Ogundare has been appointed as the new Officer in Charge (OC) of the facility, replacing DCC Juta Mohammed, who has been redeployed as the State Controller of the Nigerian Correctional Service in Zamfara State.
Before his posting to Kuje, DCC Ogundare served as Officer in Charge of the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.