The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has submitted a fresh petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), urging the anti-graft agency to investigate additional allegations of corruption, financial mismanagement, and abuse of office against former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
In the petition signed by HEDA’s Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, and addressed to the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, the civil society organisation said the new submission builds on an earlier petition filed on 11 September 2023, citing fresh audit reports, investigative findings, and legislative probes which allegedly implicate Malami during his tenure at the Federal Ministry of Justice.
According to Suraju, the request was made in the public interest and in support of Nigeria’s fight against corruption. He maintained that an audit report by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation indicted the Ministry of Justice under Malami for the alleged mismanagement of ₦113.2 million in 2019, with expenditures reportedly lacking proper documentation and due process, in violation of public finance laws.
HEDA further referenced another audit report indicating that the ministry allegedly spent billions of naira without due process in 2017, including the payment of about ₦10.4 billion as judgment debts without oversight, following the dissolution of the statutory committee responsible for vetting such payments. The report also alleged that ₦32.5 million was paid for foreign travel allowances without mandatory approvals, while 68 payment vouchers totaling ₦71.19 billion were unavailable for audit verification.
The petition also cited an investigation by the Senate Public Accounts Committee into an alleged ₦2.2 billion collected by the Ministry of Justice from Service Wide Votes between 2017 and 2021, which lawmakers reportedly found to be inadequately accounted for, with missing documentation and unexplained expenditures.
In addition, HEDA raised concerns over the alleged expenditure of ₦8 billion on prison decongestion programmes, which it said lacked transparency, accountability, and measurable outcomes.
The petition further accused Malami of compromise and frustrating the enforcement of a 2018 Supreme Court judgment on the recovery of outstanding revenues under the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Act. The judgment is estimated by government consultants to be capable of yielding over $55 billion to the Federation Account as at 2018.
HEDA argued that the allegations, taken together, disclose prima facie breaches of several laws, including the EFCC Act, the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, the Public Procurement Act, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and Nigeria’s Financial Regulations.
The group called on the EFCC to expand its ongoing investigation to cover the fresh allegations, investigate all persons involved, recover any misappropriated public funds, and prosecute those found culpable.
