The Human and Environmental Development Agenda has submitted a fresh petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, urging the anti-graft agency to investigate new allegations of corruption, financial mismanagement and abuse of office against former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
The petition, dated December 23, 2025, was addressed to the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, and signed by HEDA’s Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju.
The organisation said the latest submission followed an earlier petition it filed on September 11, 2023.
It comes at a time when the EFCC already filed criminal charges against Malami, and he is scheduled for arraignment in January.
HEDA explained that the fresh petition was based on “new audit reports, investigative findings and legislative probes” which allegedly implicate Malami during his tenure as Minister of Justice.
According to Suraju, the petition was submitted in the public interest and in support of Nigeria’s anti-corruption drive.
“This request is made in the overriding public interest and in furtherance of Nigeria’s fight against corruption,” he said.
The organisation alleged that an audit report by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation indicted the Ministry of Justice under Malami for the alleged mismanagement of N113.2m in 2019.
HEDA claimed that the expenditures lacked proper documentation and failed to follow due process, in violation of public finance regulations.
The group further cited another audit report, which allegedly showed that the ministry spent billions of naira without due process in 2017.
This, it said, included the payment of about N10.4bn as judgment debts without oversight, following the dissolution of the statutory committee responsible for vetting such payments.
According to the petition, N32.5m was also allegedly paid as foreign travel allowances without the mandatory approvals, while 68 payment vouchers amounting to N71.19bn were reportedly unavailable for audit verification.
HEDA also referenced an investigation by the Senate Public Accounts Committee into an alleged N2.2bn collected by the Ministry of Justice from Service Wide Votes between 2017 and 2021.
The organisation said lawmakers found the funds to be inadequately accounted for, with missing documentation and unexplained expenditures.
In addition, HEDA raised concerns over the alleged expenditure of N8bn on prison decongestion programmes, which it claimed “lacked transparency, accountability and measurable outcomes.”
The group further accused Malami of compromising and frustrating the enforcement of a 2018 Supreme Court judgment on the recovery of outstanding revenues under the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Act.
HEDA noted that government consultants estimated the judgment to be capable of yielding over $55bn to the Federation Account as of 2018.
“The deliberate failure to fully enforce this judgment deprived the federation of enormous revenues at a critical time,” Suraju said.
According to the organisation, the allegations, taken together, disclose prima facie breaches of several laws, 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.
HEDA urged the EFCC to expand its ongoing investigation to cover the fresh allegations, investigate all individuals involved, recover any misappropriated public funds and prosecute anyone found culpable.
“We respectfully urge the EFCC to expand the scope of its investigation to cover these fresh allegations, ensure full recovery of public funds where misappropriated, and prosecute all persons found to be involved, no matter how highly placed,” Suraju said.
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