A Kano State High Court has adjourned until April 15 the trial of former governor Abdullahi Ganduje, his wife, Hafsat Umar, and son, Abdullahi Umar, alongside five other defendants, over alleged misappropriation of public funds amounting to billions of naira.

The defendants are facing an 11-count charge bordering on bribery, conspiracy, misappropriation, and diversion of public funds. The remaining accused persons are Abubakar Bawuro, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Ltd, Safari Textiles Ltd, and Lasage General Enterprises Ltd.

At the resumed hearing, the prosecution told the court it was ready to proceed and drew attention to a motion dated November 24, 2025, seeking leave to file additional proof of evidence.

However, defence lawyers raised objections, informing the court that multiple applications were pending and must be resolved before the trial could continue.

Lydia Oluwakemi-Oyewo, counsel to some of the defendants, said the defence had filed a motion dated July 17, 2025, seeking a stay of proceedings.
Adekunle Taiye-Falola, representing the third and seventh defendants, also referred to a separate motion dated May 23, 2025.
In addition, Muhammad Shehu, counsel to the fifth defendant, told the court that an affidavit had been filed notifying it of a pending application for stay of proceedings before the Court of Appeal.
Abubakar Ahmad, counsel to the sixth defendant, informed the court that he had filed a notice of preliminary objection and an application for extension of time to respond on points of law dated February 2, urging the court to fix a date for hearing.

Only Faruk Asekome, counsel to the eighth defendant, indicated readiness to proceed with the trial.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the presiding judge, Justice Amina Adamu-Aliyu, adjourned the matter to April 15 for the hearing of all pending applications and preliminary objections.

The trial has suffered repeated delays due to legal challenges. The high court had earlier dismissed preliminary objections raised by the defence as “incompetent” and affirmed its jurisdiction to hear the case.
That ruling was appealed by the defendants, who argued that the trial court lacked jurisdiction. However, in October 2025, the Kano Division of the Court of Appeal struck out the appeal, citing failure to properly transmit the record of appeal.

-Guardian

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arraigned former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, and his son, Abdulaziz, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over alleged terrorism financing and illegal possession of firearms.

The defendants were brought before the court on Tuesday on a five-count charge bordering on terrorism-related offences and unlawful arms possession under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

According to the DSS, Malami allegedly aided terrorism financing during his tenure as AGF by deliberately refusing to prosecute suspected terrorism financiers whose case files were forwarded to his office for legal action.

One of the charges alleges that in November 2022, at the Federal Ministry of Justice in Maitama, Abuja, Malami knowingly abetted terrorism financing by obstructing the prosecution of terror suspects, an offence punishable under Section 26(2) of the Act.

The secret police also accused Malami and his son of engaging in preparatory acts of terrorism through the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition at their residence in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State.

According to the prosecution, the defendants were found in possession of a Sturm Magnum 17-0101 firearm, 16 live Redstar AAA 5’20 cartridges, and 27 expended cartridges without a valid licence, contrary to Section 29 of the Terrorism Act.

Both Malami and Abdulaziz pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Following their plea, DSS counsel, Calistus Eze, urged the court to remand the defendants in DSS custody and to fix a date for the commencement of trial.

However, defence counsel, Shuaibu Aruwan, made an oral application for bail, arguing that the defendants had already spent more than two weeks in detention. The trial judge, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, declined the oral request and directed the defence to file a formal bail application.

Justice Abdulmalik subsequently ordered that both defendants be remanded in DSS custody and adjourned the case to February 20 for further hearing.
Malami was arrested on January 19 by DSS operatives at the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja, shortly after perfecting bail conditions in a separate money-laundering case instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC had earlier arraigned Malami, his son, and his wife on a 16-count charge bordering on money laundering involving ₦8.71 billion.

The anti-graft agency alleged that between 2015 and 2025, the defendants conspired to launder proceeds of unlawful activities through multiple bank accounts and corporate entities, allegedly concealing the source and ownership of more than ₦8.1 billion.

-Guardian

A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to overturn an interim order forfeiting some of his properties to the Federal Government, insisting that the assets were lawfully acquired and duly declared to relevant authorities.

Malami, who challenged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) forfeiture order, gave a detailed breakdown of income and financial gifts.

The court held that the properties were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities and directed the EFCC to take temporary possession of the assets. Justice Nwite also ordered the anti-graft agency to publish the forfeiture order in a national newspaper, inviting interested parties to show cause within 14 days why the properties should not be permanently forfeited.

However, Malami, through his counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), in a motion on notice filed on Monday, accused the EFCC of obtaining the interim order through suppression of material facts and misrepresentation.

In the application, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/20/2026 and filed on January 27, Malami specifically challenged the forfeiture of three properties listed as number 9, 18 and 48 in the EFCC’s application.

The disputed properties include Plot 157, Lamido Crescent, Nasarawa GRA, Kano, purchased on July 31, 2019; a bedroom duplex with boys’ quarters at No. 12, Yalinga Street, off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja, acquired in October 2018 for N150 million, and the ADC Kadi Malami Foundation Building, reportedly purchased for N56 million.

Malami is asking the court to set aside the interim forfeiture order as it affects the three properties and to restrain the EFCC from interfering with his ownership, possession, and control of them. He also maintained that one of the properties is held in trust for the estate of his late father, Kadi Malami.

In a 14-ground argument, Daudu contended that the EFCC failed to present prima facie evidence linking the properties to any unlawful activity or specific offence. He said Malami had declared the assets listed as numbers 9 and 18 in his asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in 2019 and 2023, while property number 48 was held in trust for his late father.

“These assets, their value and their root of title have been clearly stated and specifically demonstrated in the various asset declaration forms spanning from 2019 to 2023,” Daudu said.

The senior lawyer also outlined Malami’s declared sources of income, including salaries, allowances, business earnings, asset disposals, loans, traditional gifts and proceeds from a book authored by the former AGF.

According to the application, Malami declared N374,630,900 as income from salaries, estacodes, severance allowances and related earnings, as well as sitting allowances from his membership of several boards and committees, including the Federal Judicial Service Commission and the Legal Practitioner Privileges Committee.

He also reportedly declared N574,073,000 from disposed assets; N10.017 billion as business turnover; N2.522 billion in loans to businesses; and N958 million as traditional gifts from personal friends.

Daudu further disclosed that N509,880,000 was realised from the launch and public presentation of Malami’s book titled ‘Contemporary Issues on Nigerian Law and Practice, Thorny Terrains in Traversing the Nigerian Justice Sector: My Travails and Triumphs’.

“These streams of income, and the continuing profits generated from the businesses over the years, sufficiently show that the properties sought to be forfeited were acquired through legitimate and lawful means,” he argued, adding that the interim order was obtained through misrepresentation and non-disclosure of material facts.

The matter could not proceed on January 27 as it was not listed on the court’s cause list. The case, which was handled during the court’s vacation, has since been returned to the Chief Judge for reassignment following the conclusion of Justice Nwite’s vacation duties.

Several lawyers were also present in court, having filed processes on behalf of clients seeking to stop the final forfeiture proceedings.

Meanwhile, Malami is facing a money laundering charge filed by the EFCC and is currently being detained at the Department of State Services (DSS) facility over a separate allegation bordering on terrorism financing.

-Leadership