Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), has been arraigned on terrorism financing and illegal weapons possession charges, marking an extraordinary fall from grace for the man who served as the country’s chief law officer for eight years.

The arraignment comes just over a week after BSide linked his legal troubles to a troubling trend of former attorneys-general facing prosecution. However, Malami’s case is the most extraordinary of any former AGF. He stands accused of the very crimes he was supposedly combating during his tenure under former President Muhammadu Buhari from 2015 to 2023.

The Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday, February 3, brought Malami and his son, Abdulaziz, before the federal high court in Abuja on a five-count charge that includes allegations of abetting terrorism financing and preparing to commit acts of terrorism.

According to the charge sheet, Malami allegedly “knowingly abetted terrorism financing by refusing to prosecute terrorism financiers whose casefiles were brought to your office as the Attorney-General of the Federation for prosecution” in November 2022. This alleged conduct, if proven, would represent a betrayal of his fundamental duties as the nation’s top prosecutor.

The DSS further accused both father and son of possessing unlicensed firearms and ammunition at their Kebbi State residence in December 2025, which prosecutors characterised as “conduct in preparation to commit act of terrorism.” The items allegedly found include a Sturm Magnum 17-0101 firearm, sixteen live rounds of Redstar AAA 5’20 cartridges, and twenty-seven expended cartridges.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, DSS counsel Calistus Eze requested that the court remand the defendants in the custody of the secret police and set a date for trial commencement. Defense counsel Shuaibu Aruwan moved an oral bail application, noting his clients had already been detained for over two weeks, but trial judge Joyce Abdulmalik rejected the oral application and ordered that a formal bail application be filed.

The defendants remain in DSS custody, with the case adjourned to February 20.

Malami’s current predicament extends beyond the terrorism charges.

The DSS arrested him on January 19 at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja after he had just secured bail in separate money laundering charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The EFCC has accused Malami, his son, and his wife of laundering over N8.7 billion in proceeds of unlawful activity between 2015 and 2025, allegedly using bank accounts and corporate entities to conceal the source and ownership of the funds.

The spectacle of a former attorney-general facing terrorism-related charges raises profound questions about governance during the Buhari administration, particularly given that Malami held office throughout a period when Nigeria grappled with insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping.