An ex-Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami (SAN) has urged a Federal High Court in Abuja to reverse its order issued on January 6 for the interim forfeiture of some of his property.
Malami, in a motion filed by his lawyer, Joseph Daudu (SAN) also gave details of his earnings while in office.
In the motion, Malami is seeking the release of three of the 57 property affected by the order issued by Justice Emeka Nwite upon a motion ex-parte for interim forfeiture filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He is praying for two reliefs:
*An order of this honourable court vacating, setting aside and/or discharging the interim order(s) of this honourable court made on the 6th of January, 2026 against the respondent/applicant’s (Malami’s) properties listed as Nos. 9, 18, and 48 in the schedule of properties attached to the interim order of forfeiture of 6th January, 2026, the said properties having been duly declared in the respondent/applicant’s asset declaration forms throughout his tenure as a public officer and No. 48 is held in trust for the Estate of Late Khadi Malami Nassarawa.
*An order of this honourable court restraining the applicant/respondent (EFCC), acting by itself or through its servants, agents and proxies from interfering with the respondent/applicant’s (Malami’s) properties in issue or disturbing the respondent/applicant’s ownership, possession and control thereof in the course of purportedly giving effect to the order of this honourable court made on the 6th of January, 2026.”
The three property being claimed by Malami include Plot 157, Lamido Crescent, Nasarawa, GRA, Kano, purchased in July 31, 2019.
The others are: a Bedroom Duplex and Boys Quarters at No.12, Yalinga Street, Off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse Il, Abuja, purchased in October 2018 at N150million, and ADC Kadi Malami Foundation Building, bought at N56million listed as No. 18 and No. 48 in the schedule of property submitted to the court by the EFCC.
Malami argued that the property listed as numbers: Nine, 18 and 48, the subject of the interim forfeiture, especially those declared in his various asset declaration forms are not linked by prima facie evidence of an unlawful activity or a specific offence.
The ex-AGF stated that he declared the assets listed as numbers nine and 18 in his asset declaration forms filed with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in 2019 and 2023 respectively.
He said property marked as number 48 is held in trust by him for the benefit of the estate of his late father, Late Kadi Malami.
Malami added: “These assets, their value and their root of title have been clearly stated and specifically demonstrated in the various asset declaration forms spanning from 2019 to 2023.
“The declaration above is prima facie evidence of the legitimacy of the acquisition and ownership of the properties,” he said.
Malami stated that he copiously declared his earnings in his asset declaration form filed with the CCB to include: N374, 630,900 million income from salaries, estacodes, severance allowance and others;
“Sitting allowances as a board/committee member of the Federal Judicial Service Commission, Federal Capital Territory Judicial Service Commission, Legal Practitioner Privileges Committee, and a high-powered presidential committee.
“N574, 073, 000 (Five hundred and seventy-four million, and seventy three thousand naira) as Income generated through disposed assets
“N10, 017,382,684 (Ten billion, seventeen million, three hundred and eighty-two thousand, six hundred and eighty-four thousand naira) turnover from businesses.
“N2, 522, 000, 000 (Two billion, five hundred and twenty-two million naira) being loans to businesses
“N958,000,000 (Nine hundred and fifty-eight million naira) as a traditional gift from personal friends.”
Malami also stated that a total sum of N509,880,000 (Five hundred and nine million, eight hundred and eighty thousand naira) was realised as income from the launch and public presentation of a book titled, “Contemporary Issues on Nigerian Law and Practice, Thorny Terrains in Traversing the Nigerian Justice Sector: My Travails and Triumphs” by Malami.
“These streams of income, and the continuing profits generated from the businesses over the years, sufficiently show that the properties sought to be forfeited were acquired through legitimate and lawful means as stated in the asset declaration forms,” he said.
According to him, the order of interim forfeiture is not based on any prima facie establishment of unlawful purpose and is liable to be set aside.
He argued that the court wrongly granted the order of interim forfeiture against these property “which were lawfully acquired post appointment of the respondent/applicant and declared with the Code of Conduct Bureau as legitimate assets of the respondent/applicant, in compliance with the 5th Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in 2019 and 2023.
“The interim order was obtained ex-parte by suppression of material facts and misrepresentation.
“The interim order for forfeiture was obtained by manifest exaggeration, malicious inflation of the value of the assets, and unreasonable and incompetent valuation deliberately manipulated to mislead the court, negatively affecting its discretion in granting an order based on manipulated facts and conclusions deliberately cooked up by the applicant/respondent (EFCC).
“That there is no prima facie evidence placed before this honourable court by the applicant/respondent (EFCC) to warrant the properties linked to the respondent/applicant (Malami) to be liable for forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The proper remedy for preventing conflicting outcomes duplicative litigation is for this honourable court to dismiss or strike out this suit.
“That this proceeding is an assault on the applicant’s fundamental right to property, his presumption of innocence and his right to live in peace with his family,” Malami said.
