Abubakar Malami, former Attorney-General of the Federation, has faced a setback in his trial as a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that his earlier bail has lapsed due to the reassignment of the case.
The court stated that since the matter is starting afresh, all prior proceedings, including the bail granted by Justice Emeka Nwite, are no longer valid.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had filed a 16-count charge against the former AGF, alleging money laundering and unlawful acquisition of assets valued at over N8.7 billion.
During Friday’s proceedings, prosecution counsel, J.S. Okutepa, announced his appearance and urged the court to take the pleas of the defendants on the amended 16-count charge.
Malami, alongside his son, Abdulaziz, and his wife, Asabe, pleaded not guilty to the amended charges.
Following their pleas, the prosecution asked the court to set a date for the commencement of trial.
Counsel to the defence, J.B. Daudu (SAN), requested that the court uphold the bail conditions earlier granted by Justice Nwite, maintaining that the Federal High Court is one court and that the defendants had already been admitted to bail.
But in response, the prosecution conceded that bail had been granted previously but argued that the present court possessed the discretion to either retain the earlier terms or impose new conditions.
He added that although he would not pursue the matter further, the court should set conditions that would guarantee the defendants’ attendance throughout the trial.
The earlier bail terms required each defendant to provide N500m bail with one surety who must own property in Maitama or Asokoro. They were also mandated to deposit two international passports each with the court, while the residences of the sureties were to be verified by the Assistant Chief Registrar.
Delivering her ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, held that when a matter is reassigned and begins afresh, previous proceedings cease to have effect in law.
Although the defence acknowledged that no formal bail application had been filed before the court, it sought to move an oral application.
The court rejected the request and directed the defence to file a formal bail application and serve it on the prosecution, after which a short adjourned date would be fixed for its hearing.
The defence further told the court that scheduling a trial date might be challenging because the first and second defendants were in the custody of the Department of State Services and were unreachable.
The court, however, stated that it would not speculate on the status of any party, stressing that it was the responsibility of the prosecution to ensure the defendants were available for trial.
The prosecution maintained that the defendants were not in its custody and that it lacked the authority to compel the DSS to produce them.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the case until March 6 for the hearing of the bail application and the commencement of trial.
She ordered that Malami and his son be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre, while his wife was to be held at the Suleja Correctional Centre.
