Malami Asks Court To Dismiss Interim Forfeiture Order On His Seized Properties

Abubakar Malami, a former Attorney-General of the Federation, has approached the court to challenge the interim forfeiture of some properties seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

On January 6, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the temporary forfeiture of 57 properties said to be suspected proceeds of illegal activities.

The properties , which the EFCC claimed are worth about N213.2 billion, were reportedly linked to Malami and two of his sons — Abdulaziz and Abiru Rahman Malami.

The judge granted the order after hearing an ex-parte application filed by the anti-graft agency, stating that there was reasonable suspicion the properties were acquired through unlawful means.

He also directed the EFCC to publish the order in a national newspaper, giving interested parties 14 days to appear in court and explain why the assets should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.

In his response, Malami, through his lawyer Joseph Daudu (SAN), filed a motion challenging the decision.

He argued that the EFCC secured the interim order by withholding important facts and misrepresenting information before the court.

Malami asked the court to dismiss the case, warning that continuing the proceedings could lead to conflicting judgments.

He also maintained that the action violates his constitutional rights, including his right to own property and his presumption of innocence.

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

These include a property on Lamido Crescent in Nasarawa GRA, Kano, bought in July 2019; a duplex with boys’ quarters in Wuse II, Abuja, reportedly purchased for N150 million in October 2018; and the ADC Kadi Malami Foundation building, said to have been acquired for N56 million.

He urged the court to lift the interim forfeiture order as it concerns those three properties and to stop the EFCC from interfering with his ownership and control of them.

The former AGF also stated that one of the properties is held in trust for the estate of his late father, Kadi Malami.

In a detailed argument containing 14 grounds, his lawyer insisted there is no clear evidence linking the properties to any crime.

He noted that two of the disputed assets were declared in Malami’s asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in 2019 and 2023. The third property, he said, belongs to his late father’s estate.

Daudu 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.”

KanyiDaily had previously published photos of some of the properties seized by the EFCC.