Malami moves to block EFCC as he challenges forfeiture of three properties in Abuja Court
Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to set aside an interim forfeiture order affecting three of the 57 properties allegedly linked to him and his family, insisting the assets were lawfully acquired and properly declared.
The interim forfeiture order was granted on January 6 by Justice Emeka Nwite following an ex parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The order directed the temporary forfeiture of 57 properties allegedly connected to Malami and his sons, Abdulaziz and Abiru Rahman, on the grounds that they were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities. The court also ordered the EFCC to publish the notice in a national newspaper, inviting interested parties to show cause within 14 days why the assets should not be permanently forfeited.
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However, in a motion on notice filed on Monday through his counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), Malami accused the EFCC of obtaining the interim order through misrepresentation and suppression of material facts. He urged the court to dismiss the forfeiture proceedings, warning that they could result in conflicting decisions and duplicative litigation.
Malami further argued that the forfeiture violated his constitutional rights, including the right to property, presumption of innocence, and family life.
The application, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/20/2026 and filed on January 27, specifically challenges the forfeiture of properties listed as numbers 9, 18, and 48 in the EFCC’s application. The disputed assets include Plot 157, Lamido Crescent, Nasarawa GRA, Kano, acquired in July 2019; a bedroom duplex with boys’ quarters at No. 12, Yalinga Street, Wuse II, Abuja, purchased in October 2018 for N150 million; and the ADC Kadi Malami Foundation Building, reportedly bought for N56 million.
READ ALSO: Court orders interim forfeiture of 57 Malami-linked properties
Malami is asking the court to set aside the interim forfeiture order as it relates to the three properties and to restrain the EFCC from interfering with his ownership 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 contended that the EFCC failed to establish any prima facie link between the properties and criminal activity. He stated that properties numbered 9 and 18 were declared in Malami’s asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in 2019 and 2023, while property number 48 was held in trust.
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According to the filing, Malami declared multiple sources of income, including salaries, allowances, business earnings, loans, asset disposals, traditional gifts, and proceeds from his book titled “Contemporary Issues on Nigerian Law and Practice, Thorny Terrains in Traversing the Nigerian Justice Sector: My Travails and Triumphs.”
The former AGF reportedly declared N374.63 million from salaries and allowances, N574.07 million from disposed assets, N10.017 billion in business turnover, N2.522 billion in business loans, N958 million in traditional gifts, and N509.88 million from the book launch and presentation.
“These streams of income sufficiently show that the properties sought to be forfeited were acquired through legitimate means,” Daudu argued, insisting the interim order was obtained through non-disclosure of material facts.
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The case could not be heard on January 27 as it was not listed on the court’s cause list. Having been handled during the court’s vacation, the matter has now been returned to the Chief Judge for reassignment following the conclusion of Justice Nwite’s vacation duties.
Meanwhile, the EFCC has also filed money laundering charges against Malami, while he is reportedly being held at a Department of State Services (DSS) facility over a separate allegation bordering on terrorism financing.
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