The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to the Federal Government.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik held that the assets, alleged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities, should be permanently forfeited.
The court ruled that Malami, who served as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice between November 11, 2015, and May 29, 2023, failed to rebut the reasonable suspicion that the properties were acquired through illegitimate means.
Justice Abdulmalik also dismissed claims that some of the affected properties belonged to members of the wider Malami family in Kebbi State, stating that the key issue before the court was not ownership but whether the funds used to acquire the assets were lawfully obtained.
According to the judge, Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act empowers the court to order the final forfeiture of assets found to have been acquired through proceeds of crime.
The ruling followed an application by the EFCC, which had sought the forfeiture of 57 properties allegedly traced to the former minister. However, the court found credible evidence establishing the legitimate ownership of nine of the listed properties and excluded them from the forfeiture order.
The EFCC and Malami adopted their final written addresses in the matter on May 26. The anti-graft agency had earlier secured an interim forfeiture order covering the assets, which it valued at more than ₦212 billion.
