BREAKING: Court Orders Final Forfeiture of 48 Properties Linked to Ex-AGF Malami

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties, including a university, linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, to the Federal Government.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik delivered the ruling on Wednesday, holding that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had established that the assets were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

The court ruled that Malami failed to provide sufficient evidence to show that the properties were acquired through legitimate sources of income.

Before delivering judgment, Justice Abdulmalik dismissed several applications and motions filed by Malami, members of his family and companies linked to the assets, describing them as lacking merit.

The judge held that the central issue before the court was not ownership of the properties but whether the funds used to acquire them were legitimate.

According to her, the respondents failed to rebut the EFCC’s claim that the assets were proceeds of unlawful activities.

Relying on Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, Justice Abdulmalik granted the final forfeiture order.

However, the court declined to grant the EFCC’s request for the forfeiture of nine other properties located in Kebbi and Kaduna states, ruling that the anti-graft agency failed to establish that those assets were acquired through unlawful means.

The judgment followed a suit filed by the EFCC seeking the permanent forfeiture of 57 properties valued at about N212.8 billion and linked to the former AGF.

Justice Emeka Nwite had, on January 16, granted an interim forfeiture order over the properties after an ex parte application by the EFCC.

Following the publication of the interim order, Malami, his wife, Nana Hadiza, his son, Abdulaziz, and several companies linked to the properties challenged the order, arguing that the assets were lawfully acquired and that the EFCC failed to establish any link between the properties and unlawful activities.

The court, however, upheld the EFCC’s case in respect of 48 of the properties and ordered their final forfeiture to the Federal Government.