A former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, has filed an application challenging the interim forfeiture of some of his properties seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
On January 6, Emema Nwite, judge of federal high court in Abuja ordered the interim forfeiture of 57 properties suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
The properties were allegedly linked to Malami and two of his sons, Abdulaziz Malami and Abiru Rahman Malami.
Ruling on an ex parte motion filed by the anti-graft agency, Nwite held that the properties were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities and should be temporarily forfeited to the federal government.
The judge also directed the EFCC to publish the interim forfeiture order in a national daily, inviting interested parties to appear before the court within 14 days to show cause why a final forfeiture order should not be made.
However, in a motion on notice, Malami, through his counsel led by Joseph Daudu, alleged that the EFCC obtained the interim order through suppression of material facts and misrepresentation.
Malami urged the court to dismiss the suit to prevent “conflicting outcomes duplicative litigation”, arguing that the proceeding violates his right to property, presumption of innocence and right to family life.
In the application marked FHC/ABJ/CS/20/2026 and filed on January 27, the former AGF specifically challenged the forfeiture of three properties listed as numbers 9, 18 and 48 in the EFCC’s ex parte application.
The properties include Plot 157, Lamido Crescent, Nasarawa GRA, Kano, purchased on July 31, 2019; a bedroom duplex with boys’ quarters at No. 12, Yalinga street, off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja, acquired in October 2018 for N150 million; and the ADC Kadi Malami Foundation Building, purchased for N56 million.
Malami is asking the court to set aside the interim forfeiture order as it affects the three properties and restrain the EFCC from interfering with his ownership, possession and control of them.
He also contends that one of the properties is held in trust for the estate of his late father, Kadi Malami.
In a 14-ground argument, Daudu said the properties were not linked by prima facie evidence to any unlawful activity or specific offence.
He said Malami declared the assets listed as numbers 9 and 18 in his asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in 2019 and 2023, while property number 48 is held in trust for the estate of his late father.
“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,” Daudu said.
The senior lawyer further listed Malami’s declared sources of income, including earnings from salaries, allowances, board memberships, disposal of assets, business turnover, loans to businesses, traditional gifts from friends and proceeds from the public presentation of a book authored by the former AGF.
He said Malami declared his source of income in his asset declaration 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,” part of the document reads.
“N574,073, 000 as Income generated through disposed assets; N10,017,382,684 turnover from businesses; N2, 522,000, 000 being loans to businesses; N958,000,000 as a traditional gift from personal friends.”
Daudu also explained that a total sum of N509,880,000 was realised as income from the launch and public presentation of a book by Malami titled ‘Contemporary Issues on Nigerian Law and Practice, Thorny Terrains in Traversing the Nigerian Justice Sector: My Travails and Triumphs’.
“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.
“The interim order was obtained ex parte by suppression of material facts and misrepresentation.
“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.”
However, the matter could not proceed as it was not listed on the cause list for the day. The case had been handled during the court’s vacation, and the presiding judge, having concluded all vacation matters, returned the case file to the Chief Judge for reassignment.
It was also observed that several lawyers were present in court on January 27, having filed processes on behalf of their clients seeking to halt the proceedings for the final forfeiture of the assets.
Malami, who is facing a money laundering charge filed by EFCC, is also currently being detained at the Department of State Services (DSS) facility over a separate allegation bordering on terrorism financing.
