Fresh from the dock on separate corruption charges, former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), is now entangled in a staggering new scandal. A whistleblower has accused him and senior Justice Ministry officials of conspiring to divert over $1.03 billion belonging to the Nigerian government through a cloned bank account.
The explosive allegations, detailed in a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as reported by Sahara Reporters, claim Malami and his cohorts hijacked a legitimate recovery process to steal funds discovered in a fraudulent Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) account.
The Discovery of the “Cloned” Account
The scheme, according to the report, came to light when a whistleblower, John Kpurhe, uncovered a suspicious bank account bearing the NPA’s name and details. The account, numbered 0013680344, was maintained with Unity Bank Plc at the NPA’s Lagos address but was allegedly a “cloned” duplicate not officially owned by the Authority. It contained a staggering $1,034,515,050.
Following protocol, Kpurhe reportedly approached then-Attorney General Malami directly in 2018 to disclose the vital information about the account and its contents. Malami, allegedly satisfied with the information, directed the Head of the Asset Recovery Unit at the Ministry of Justice, Alhaja Ladidi B. Muhammed, to initiate recovery of the funds.
The Recovery Process & The Sudden U-Turn
Acting on this directive, Kpurhe submitted a formal information letter on June 11, 2018. An agreement was signed on June 22, 2018, between his lawyer, Barrister Mamma, and the Federal Ministry of Justice, represented by Malami, to formalize the whistleblower’s role.
Officials, including Barrister Buni (confidential secretary to Alhaja Ladidi) and Kpurhe himself, then allegedly made several trips to the Federal High Court in Apapa, Lagos, to obtain a condemnation certificate for the cloned account—a legal step to forfeit the funds to the government.
However, the process took a dramatic and suspicious turn on July 27, 2018. Alhaja Ladidi B. Muhammed wrote a letter terminating the involvement of Kpurhe’s lawyer, Barrister Mamma, claiming the account had become subject to a court dispute.
According to the petition filed by Kpurhe’s new lawyers, FritzAbbey Solicitors & Advocates, this was a deliberate tactic. The whistleblower claims Alhaja Ladidi later told him she wrote the letter because the lawyer was “frequenting her office” and she considered it a nuisance, and that there was “no problem about the account.”
The Alleged Hijack and Diversion
On the same day the lawyer was removed, July 27, 2018, Kpurhe alleges Alhaja Ladidi directed him to write a fresh information letter, discontinuing the initial one. He complied immediately. Furthermore, Kpurhe’s uncle, Ambassador Gilbert Nwokenye, also submitted a new information letter dated the same day, which was stamped and acknowledged by Alhaja Ladidi.
The petition now accuses Malami, Alhaja Ladidi B. Muhammed, Barrister Buni, and businessman Alhassan Dantata (Chairman/CEO of Crescent House Limited) of using this maneuver to sideline the original whistleblower and his counsel, thereby hijacking the recovery process.
FritzAbbey Solicitors, in their petition to the EFCC Chairman dated December 29, 2025, state: “We write with respect to the way and manner the former Attorney General of the Federation, Malami Abubakar (SAN), and his cohorts fraudulently diverted the sum of One Billion, Thirty-Four Million, Five Hundred and Fifteen Thousand United States Dollars ($1,034,515,050) contained in a cloned account.”
They allege the entire sum was converted for the personal use of the named individuals.
Whistleblower Fears for His Life
The petition raises grave security concerns, stating that Kpurhe’s life and the lives of staff at Legal Hub Nigeria are now at risk because of the case. It urgently calls on the EFCC to provide security protection for them during the investigation.
EFCC in Action & Malami’s Existing Legal Woes
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has confirmed receipt of the petition. An official receipt shows the petition (EFCC/PET/HOR/0072/2026) was received on January 8, 2026.
This new allegation adds to the severe legal troubles of Abubakar Malami, who was recently granted bail after being remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre for over three weeks. He is standing trial alongside his son and a wife for an unrelated ₦8.7 billion money laundering case.
Just recently, on January 7, 2026, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, granted Malami and his co-defendants bail in the sum of ₦500 million each. In a separate ruling, the same judge had earlier ordered the interim forfeiture of 57 multi-billion-naira properties linked to Malami across Abuja, Kebbi, Kano, and Kaduna states, suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
The EFCC is now tasked with untangling the complex web of the alleged $1.03 billion diversion, a case that strikes at the heart of Nigeria’s asset recovery system and implicates some of its former top legal officials.
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