Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu, says the unfolding money‑laundering trial of ex‑Attorney General Abubakar Malami is a stark reminder to Nigerian public officials that power is fleeting.
In a post on his X handle on Tuesday, December 30, Moghalu reflected on reports linking Malami’s alleged wealth to recovered Sani Abacha loot, Paris Club refunds and Central Bank agricultural loans.
He argued that holding office in Nigeria has increasingly been divorced from competence and core values.
“By now anyone taking public office in Nigeria should understand the transience of power, especially in a country where public office has progressively become uncoupled from competence, ideology, or values such as integrity,” he wrote.
He warned that those who act as untouchable while in power often face a reversal of fortunes.
“When people carry on in office like tomorrow will never arrive, the hunters will become the hunted. This is only a general statement and not a ‘conviction’ of Mr. Malami,” he added.
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Moghalu stressed that it is for the judiciary, not the public, to determine Malami’s guilt or innocence.
“Let the courts decide his guilt or innocence, if they will, and if this does not become yet another alleged corruption case with no real conclusion,” he said.
He also took a swipe at past Central Bank policy under former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, suggesting the institution had strayed from its core mandate.
“But it was a bit odd when the central bank increasingly became the ‘Central Bank of Agriculture’ under the great central banking whiz kid Mr. Emefiele,” Moghalu wrote.
His comments came as Malami, his son Abubakar Abdulaziz, and another defendant were arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja on a 16‑count charge bordering on alleged money laundering.
All three pleaded not guilty to accusations of unlawful acquisition and concealment of funds.