Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has reacted strongly to reports claiming he had ties to terrorism financing, declaring the allegations a deliberate attempt to distort his record in public service.
Moreover, the former minister maintained that no institution within or outside the country had ever summoned, investigated, or profiled him for any offence related to terrorism funding since his emergence in public office.
He described the viral report as “an engineered narrative rooted in politics rather than evidence”.
The clarification followed a publication that appeared to suggest that a retired military officer provided information implicating the former AGF.
However, Malami countered that the publication misled readers by presenting vague references of suspects having “institutional or business contact” with different individuals, which was later enlarged by political opponents to create what he called “a manufactured cloud of suspicion”.
“Accusing a person of terrorism financing is not a trivial matter.
“Such claims require the weight of verifiable intelligence and lawful conclusions, not assumptions stitched together for sensational headlines,” Malami said, adding that public office should not become grounds for guilt by association.
Furthermore, Malami insisted that his stewardship in government signals the opposite of the accusations levelled against him.
He explained that his tenure oversaw critical reforms aimed at plugging financial loopholes and advancing Nigeria’s fight against organised crime, illegal financial flow, and extremist funding.
He referenced initiatives such as the creation of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit as an autonomous body and the passage of two major legal frameworks, the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act in 2022, reforms he argued contributed to Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s “grey list”.
According to Malami, leadership often demands engagement with diverse individuals and interest groups, and such interactions should not be misconstrued as criminal coordination.
However, Malami expressed concern that inaccurate security-related reporting does more than smear reputations.
He warned that such content risks damaging public confidence in the nation’s justice and security architecture.
The former attorney-general vowed to defend his integrity and emphasized his commitment to the rule of law, stating that he “would not hesitate to pursue legal remedies where publications seek to distort facts, defame character, or mislead the public”.