Former AGF Malami loses 48 properties as court grants EFCC final forfeiture order, spares nine assets

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to Abubakar Malami, former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), to the Federal Government after ruling that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) established reasonable grounds to suspect that the assets were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who delivered judgment on Wednesday, held that Malami and other respondents failed to demonstrate that the properties were acquired through legitimate sources of income.

The court dismissed the objections, motions on notice, and applications filed by Malami, members of his family, and companies linked to the properties, describing them as lacking merit.

Justice Abdulmalik held that the central issue before the court was not ownership of the properties but whether the funds used to acquire them were legitimate.

“The respondents have not dislodged the reasonable suspicion that the properties were acquired through unlawful activities,” the judge held, while relying on Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act to grant the final forfeiture order.

However, the court declined the EFCC’s request for the permanent forfeiture of nine other properties located in Kebbi and Kaduna states, ruling that the anti-graft agency failed to establish sufficient evidence linking the assets to unlawful activities. The interim forfeiture order on the nine properties was consequently vacated.

The EFCC had filed the suit seeking the permanent forfeiture of 57 properties valued at about N212.8 billion, alleging that the assets were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

The forfeiture proceedings followed an investigation by the commission into assets allegedly linked to Malami, his family members, and companies associated with the properties.

Read also: Court delays ruling on EFCC bid to forfeit 57 Malami-linked properties

Malami served as Nigeria’s Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2023 under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

In January, Justice Emeka Nwite granted an interim forfeiture order on the 57 properties following an ex parte application filed by EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho (SAN).

The interim order allowed the EFCC to preserve the assets pending the determination of the substantive forfeiture proceedings.

Following the order, which was subsequently published, Malami, his wife Nana Hadiza, his son Abdulaziz, and several companies linked to the properties approached the court to challenge the EFCC’s application.

They argued that the properties were lawfully acquired and that the commission failed to establish any connection between the assets and proceeds of crime.

The respondents urged the court to set aside the interim forfeiture order, while the EFCC maintained that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired through unlawful means and should be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

The commission’s application was filed under Nigeria’s asset recovery laws, which permit the government to seek forfeiture of assets suspected to be linked to illicit activities without necessarily securing a prior criminal conviction, provided the required legal threshold is established.

Wednesday’s judgment effectively transfers ownership of 48 properties to the Federal Government, while nine assets were excluded after the court found that the EFCC did not provide sufficient grounds to justify their forfeiture.

The ruling forms part of the EFCC’s wider asset recovery efforts through civil forfeiture proceedings aimed at recovering assets suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities, subject to judicial approval.