KEY POINTS

• Former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami is asking a Federal High Court to set aside an interim forfeiture order on properties seized by the EFCC.

• The order covers 57 properties allegedly linked to Malami and his two sons and valued at about N213 billion.

• Malami says the EFCC misled the court and insists the properties were lawfully acquired and properly declared.

Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s former Attorney-General of the Federation, has filed an application before the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to set aside an interim forfeiture order on some of his properties seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The application follows a ruling delivered on 6 January by Justice Emeka Nwite, who ordered the interim forfeiture of 57 properties suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities. The assets were said to be linked to Malami and two of his sons, Abdulaziz Malami and Abiru Rahman Malami.

According to the EFCC, the properties are collectively valued at about N213.2 billion.

In granting the EFCC’s ex parte application, Justice Nwite held that the properties were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with the proceeds of unlawful activities and should, therefore, be temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government.

The judge also directed the anti-graft agency to publish the interim forfeiture order in a national newspaper and invite interested parties to appear within 14 days to show cause why a final forfeiture order should not be made.

Malami Alleges Misrepresentation

In response, Malami, through his legal team led by senior advocate Joseph Daudu, filed a motion on notice accusing the EFCC of suppressing material facts and making misrepresentations to secure the interim order.

He urged the court to set aside the forfeiture proceedings, warning that allowing the suit to stand could lead to “conflicting outcomes and duplicative litigation”.

Malami further argued that the forfeiture violates his constitutional rights to property, presumption of innocence and family life.

In the application marked FHC/ABJ/CS/20/2026 and filed on 27 January, Malami is specifically contesting the forfeiture of three properties listed as numbers 9, 18 and 48 in the EFCC’s ex parte motion.

They include Plot 157, Lamido Crescent, Nasarawa GRA, Kano, reportedly purchased on 31 July 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 these properties and to 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.

Assets Declared to Code of Conduct Bureau

In a 14-ground argument, Daudu said none of the properties was linked by prima facie evidence to any unlawful activity or specific criminal offence.

He told the court that Malami declared two of the disputed properties in his asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in 2019 and 2023, while the third property is held in trust.

“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.

He argued that the declarations constitute prima facie evidence of legitimate acquisition and ownership.