Court Orders Final Forfeiture of 48 Properties Tied to Ex-AGF Malami

In a significant ruling delivered on Wednesday, July 15, the Federal High Court in Abuja mandated the permanent confiscation of 48 assets linked to Mr. Abubakar Malami, the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. Malami is currently facing charges related to money laundering. Presiding over the case, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik declared in her judgment that these properties, which are alleged to have been acquired using illicit funds, must be seized by the federal government.

The court noted that Malami, who served as Justice Minister under former President Muhammadu Buhari from November 11, 2015, to May 29, 2023, failed to provide sufficient evidence to counter the strong suspicion that the properties were obtained through illegal means. Contentions that some of the contested assets belonged to the broader Malami family in Kebbi State were dismissed by the court. Justice Abdulmalik clarified that the central legal question was not the ownership of the properties, but rather the legitimacy of the funds used for their acquisition. She emphasized that Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act empowers the court to order the final forfeiture of assets acquired illicitly to the government.

This judgment stems from an application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). While the anti-graft agency initially sought the forfeiture of 57 high-value properties it had traced to the former minister, the court found credible evidence establishing the genuine ownership of nine of these properties, thus granting forfeiture for 48. Both the EFCC and Malami had submitted their final written arguments on May 26.

It is worth recalling that the EFCC had previously secured an interim forfeiture order for these assets, collectively valued at over N212 billion. According to the anti-graft body, these properties, spread across Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna states, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, were believed to have been acquired through criminal proceeds. The agency had sought the interim order as a precursor to the final forfeiture to the federal government.

Malami is currently facing a 16-count charge of money laundering. He was arraigned alongside his son, Abdulaziz, and one of his wives, Hajia Bashir Asabe. The prosecution alleges that the defendants laundered public funds amounting to approximately N9 billion. The EFCC posits that the former Justice Minister acquired these choice properties in various cities and states in an attempt to conceal his ill-gotten gains.

After granting the interim forfeiture order, the court had instructed the EFCC to publish a notice within 14 days, inviting any interested parties to appear and show cause why the properties should not be forfeited to the government. Dissatisfied with the EFCC's application, Malami's legal team sought to have it overturned, maintaining that the properties were legitimately acquired. He argued before the court that the properties were properly declared in his asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), insisting that the EFCC had failed to present prima facie evidence of their acquisition through criminal proceeds.

Malami accused the EFCC of suppressing material facts, asserting that the agency targeted him over properties that “were lawfully acquired post-appointment of the respondent/applicant and declared with the Code of Conduct Bureau as legitimate assets of the respondent/applicant, in compliance with the 5th Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in 2019 and 2023.” He further contended that the interim forfeiture order was obtained through “manifest exaggeration, malicious inflation of the value of the assets, and unreasonable and incompetent valuation deliberately manipulated to mislead the court, negatively affecting its discretion in granting an order based on manipulated facts and conclusions deliberately cooked up by the applicant/respondent (EFCC).”

During the adoption of its final brief, the EFCC counsel urged the court to grant the final forfeiture order, relying on a 47-paragraph affidavit and 46 exhibits. The counsel argued that Malami had not satisfactorily explained the legitimate sources of the assets. In response, Malami’s defense counsel urged the court to dismiss the application and revoke the earlier interim forfeiture order, relying on a counter-affidavit from Malami to argue that the EFCC’s case was based on suspicion rather than concrete evidence.

The court-ordered list of properties now subject to final forfeiture includes, but is not limited to: a luxury duplex on Amazon Street, Cadastral Zone A06, Maitama (purchased December 2022 for N500m, enhanced value N5.95bn); a two-wing storey building at No. 3, Onitsha Crescent, Area 11, Garki, Abuja (purchased December 2018 for N7bn); Plot 683, Jabi District, Cadastral Zone B04, comprising a five-storey building (Luxurious Meethaq Hotels Ltd, purchased September 2020 for N850m carcass, N300m to take possession, completed value N8.4bn); Property No. 3130, Cadastral Zone A04, Asokoro District, FCT, Abuja (terraces, purchased January 2021 for N360m); Property No. 3, Rhine Street, Maitama, Abuja (Meethaq Hotels Ltd, purchased February 2018 for N430m, rehabilitated value N12.95bn); Plot No. 1241B, Asokoro District Zone (No. 11A Yakubu Gowon Crescent), Asokoro District (purchased July 2021 for N325m); Shop No. C82, Citiscape — Shariff Plaza, Plot 739, Cadastral Zone A07, Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse II, FCT, Abuja (purchased March 2024 for N120m); No. 4, Ahmadu Bello Way, Nasarawa GRA, Kano (purchased December 2022 for N300m); Plot 157, Lamido Crescent, Nasarawa GRA, Kano (purchased July 2019); a plaza, commercial toilets, laundry facility, and warehouse tanks adjacent to Birnin Kebbi Market (purchased 2021 for N100m); 100 hectares of land along Birnin Kebbi–Jega Road (purchased 2020 for N100m); a four-bedroom bungalow, Gesse Phase, Birnin Kebbi (purchased 2023 for N101m); Shops Nos. A36 and B3, Vegas Mall, Wuse 2, Abuja (purchased July 2023 for N158m); No. 26, Babbi Drive, BUA Estate, Abuja (purchased 2022 for N136m); No. 27, Efab Estates Avenue, 59th Crescent, Gwarimpa, Abuja (purchased January 2016 for N120m); a four-bedroom house with two-room boys’ quarters at No. 10B, Doka Crescent, Abakpa GRA, Kaduna (purchased January 2018 for N40m); Plot No. 13, Ipent 7 Estate, Karsana District, Abuja (purchased June 2018 for N85m); a four-bedroom duplex with boys’ quarters at No. 12, Yalinga Street, off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja (purchased October 2018 for N150m); two warehouse shops, B40 and B46, Wuse Market, Abuja (purchased July 2020 for N50m); twin houses at Zone E, Apo Legislative Quarters, Cadastral Zone B01, Plot 14014, Gudu District, Abuja (purchased between February and May 2017 for N250m); and properties acquired by the Khadimiyya for Justice & Development Initiative at Academic Garden City, Birnin Kebbi, including nine units of three-bedroom bungalows, three units of two-bedroom bungalows, and 5.4 hectares of land (purchased between February and September 2023 for N187 million).