A former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to set aside an interim order forfeiting some of his properties to the Federal Government, insisting that his wealth was legitimately acquired and fully declared to authorities.
Justice Emeka Nwite had on January 6 ordered the interim forfeiture of 57 properties linked to Malami and two of his sons, Abdulaziz and Abiru Rahman, following an ex parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The judge held that the assets were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities and ordered the EFCC to take possession of them temporarily.
He also directed the anti-graft agency to publish the order in a national newspaper, inviting interested parties to show cause within 14 days why the properties should not be finally forfeited.
However, Malami, through his counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), in a motion on notice on Monday, accused the EFCC of obtaining the interim order through suppression of material facts and misrepresentation.
The former AGF urged the court to dismiss the forfeiture proceedings, warning against what he described as “conflicting outcomes, duplicative litigation,” while arguing that the action violated his rights to property, presumption of innocence, and family life.
In the application marked FHC/ABJ/CS/20/2026 and filed on January 27, Malami specifically challenged the forfeiture of three properties listed as numbers 9, 18, and 48 in the EFCC’s 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 N150m; and the ADC Kadi Malami Foundation Building, purchased for N56m.
Malami is asking the court to set aside the interim forfeiture order as it affects the three properties and to restrain the EFCC from interfering with his ownership, possession, and control of them. He also maintained 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 EFCC failed to place prima facie evidence before the court linking the properties to any unlawful activity or specific offence.
He said Malami had declared the assets listed as numbers 9 and 18 in his asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau in 2019 and 2023, while property number 48 was held in trust for 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 outlined Malami’s declared sources of income, including salaries, allowances, business earnings, asset disposals, loans, traditional gifts, and proceeds from a book authored by the former AGF.
According to him, Malami declared his income to 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 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”, part of the document reads.
Daudu also disclosed that N509,880,000 was realised from the launch and public presentation of Malami’s book 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.
“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”, he said.
The matter could not proceed on January 27 as it was not listed on the cause list. The case, which was handled during the court’s vacation, was returned to the Chief Judge for reassignment after Justice Nwite concluded all vacation matters.
Several lawyers were also present in court, having filed processes on behalf of clients seeking to halt the final forfeiture proceedings.
Malami is facing a money laundering charge filed by the EFCC and is currently being detained at the Department of State Services facility over a separate allegation bordering on terrorism financing.
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