The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, has taken over the prosecution of a former AGF, Abubakar Malami and his son, Abdulaziz, over alleged terrorism-related offences and unlawful possession of firearms.
The development emerged Wednesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that the case file had been transferred from the Department of State Services to the Office of the Attorney-General.
“My lord, I was informed by counsel to the DSS that the case file has been transmitted to the office of the AGF,” Oyedepo said, requesting a short adjournment to allow the prosecution review the file and decide on its next steps.
He said four days would be sufficient.
Counsel for the defendants, Adedayo Adedeji, did not oppose the request but asked the court to strike out the charge if the prosecution fails to open its case at the next hearing, citing lack of diligent prosecution.
Oyedepo described the request as premature.
Justice Joyce Abdumalik adjourned the case to March 10, 2026, for the commencement of trial and directed the prosecution to open its case on that date.
The DSS had arraigned Malami and his son on charges including alleged refusal to prosecute suspected terrorism financiers and unlawful possession of firearms.
In the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/63/2026, Malami is accused of knowingly aiding terrorism financing by allegedly failing to prosecute suspects whose case files were forwarded to him while he served as attorney-general and minister of justice.
The defendants are also accused of storing firearms at their residence in Gesse Phase II area of Birnin Kebbi Local Government Area, Kebbi State, without lawful authority.
Prosecutors allege that in December 2025, Malami and his son possessed, without a license, a Sturm Magnum firearm, 16 live cartridges and 27 expended cartridges, in violation of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Firearms Act.
At their first court appearance on Feb. 3, both defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges.
On the last adjourned date, the court granted them bail in the sum of 200 million naira each, with two sureties in like sum.
They were ordered remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the fulfillment of their bail conditions.
As part of the conditions, one surety must own landed property in Maitama or Asokoro, Abuja, and deposit the title documents with the deputy chief registrar of the court, along with a valid international passport. The sureties are also required to submit affidavits of means and two recent passport photographs.
Malami and his son were further ordered to surrender their international passports and submit recent passport photographs to the court.
