Ex-AGF Malami, Justice Ministry Officials Accused of Diverting $1bn in Asset Recovery Scandal

whistleblower has accused former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), alongside senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice and an Abuja-based businessman, of allegedly diverting over $1.03 billion belonging to the Federal Government.

The allegation is contained in a petition submitted to anti-corruption authorities by John Kpurhe, who claimed that the funds were secretly warehoused in a cloned Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) bank account before being diverted.

According to the whistleblower, he uncovered the suspicious account and formally reported the matter to Malami during his time as Attorney-General. He alleged that despite assurances that the funds would be recovered for the government, key officials within the justice ministry later collaborated to divert the money.

The petition further claims that Malami directed the matter to the ministry’s Asset Recovery Unit, after which Kpurhe submitted detailed documentation outlining how the funds were traced and allegedly misappropriated.

Several individuals were named in the alleged scheme, including senior officials within the Ministry of Justice and a businessman said to have played a central role in facilitating the movement of the funds through private corporate accounts.

The whistleblower alleged that rather than protecting government interests, those entrusted with asset recovery exploited their positions for personal gain, resulting in the loss of over one billion dollars.

Anti-graft investigators are said to have commenced preliminary investigations into the allegations as calls mount for a full forensic probe into the handling of recovered public assets during Malami’s tenure.