A civil society organisation, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), has lodged a fresh petition with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), calling for an expanded investigation into alleged corruption linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
The petition, dated December 23, 2025, was addressed to EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, and signed by HEDA’s Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju. It follows an earlier complaint submitted by the group in September 2023 and comes amid ongoing criminal proceedings involving the former justice minister, whose arraignment is expected in January.
According to HEDA, the new petition is anchored on recently surfaced audit reports, investigative findings, and legislative probes that allegedly point to financial irregularities during Malami’s tenure at the Ministry of Justice.
The organisation cited an audit report by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, which reportedly faulted the ministry for the alleged mismanagement of N113.2 million in 2019. The audit allegedly highlighted expenditures made without proper documentation and in violation of public finance rules.
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HEDA also referenced another audit said to have uncovered questionable spending running into billions of naira in 2017, including the payment of about N10.4 billion as judgment debts without adequate oversight or due process.
Further allegations outlined in the petition include foreign travel allowances amounting to N32.5 million allegedly paid without the required approvals, as well as 68 payment vouchers totaling approximately N71.19 billion that were reportedly unavailable for audit verification.
The group additionally drew attention to a Senate Public Accounts Committee investigation, which examined an alleged N2.2 billion received by the Ministry of Justice from Service Wide Votes between 2017 and 2021. Lawmakers reportedly concluded that the funds were not satisfactorily accounted for.
Other issues raised include claims that about N8 billion was spent on prison decongestion programmes without transparency or clearly measurable outcomes. HEDA also alleged that the non-implementation of a 2018 Supreme Court judgment under the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Act resulted in Nigeria losing potential revenues estimated at over $55 billion.
HEDA argued that the alleged acts amount to violations of several statutes, including the EFCC Act, the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, the Public Procurement Act, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and Nigeria’s Financial Regulations.
The organisation urged the EFCC to widen the scope of its ongoing investigations to cover the newly raised issues, ensure the recovery of any misappropriated public funds, and prosecute all individuals found to be culpable in accordance with the law.
