By Stephen Simon
A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to the Federal Government after ruling that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired through unlawful activities.
The judgment was delivered on Wednesday by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had established the legal threshold required under Nigeria’s civil forfeiture laws. The court found that the respondents failed to rebut the commission’s allegation that the properties were proceeds of unlawful activities.
Before delivering the substantive judgment, the court dismissed several applications and objections filed by Malami, members of his family and companies linked to the assets, describing them as lacking merit. Justice Abdulmalik stressed that the central issue before the court was not ownership of the properties but whether the funds used to acquire them came from legitimate sources.
The forfeited assets include a luxury duplex in Abuja, a university campus, an agro-allied factory, hotels and several other commercial and residential properties located across the Federal Capital Territory and northern Nigeria.
The forfeiture proceedings followed an interim order issued by the court, which gave interested parties 14 days to show cause why the properties should not be permanently forfeited. With the deadline expiring without sufficient proof of legitimate ownership, the court granted the EFCC’s application for final forfeiture.
Malami, who served as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice between 2015 and 2023, is separately facing a 16-count charge bordering on money laundering and conspiracy involving billions of naira. He has pleaded not guilty to the allegations.
The ruling marks one of the most significant asset recovery decisions secured by the EFCC in recent years and is expected to strengthen the Federal Government’s anti-corruption campaign while reinforcing the use of civil forfeiture proceedings in recovering assets suspected to be proceeds of crime.
