The 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.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) established the reasonable suspicion required under the law to justify the forfeiture of the assets.
The court ruled that Malami, members of his family and companies connected to the properties failed to rebut the EFCC’s allegation that the assets were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
Before delivering the substantive judgment, Justice Abdulmalik dismissed several applications, motions on notice and applications to show cause filed by the respondents, describing them as lacking merit.
She stressed that the central issue before the court was not ownership of the properties but the legitimacy of the funds used to acquire them.
“The issue before the court is not who owns the property, but how legitimate are the funds used to acquire the property,” the judge said.
Justice Abdulmalik held that the respondents had failed to displace the reasonable suspicion that the assets were acquired through unlawful activities.
Relying on Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, the court granted the EFCC’s application for the final forfeiture of the properties.
However, the judge discharged the interim forfeiture order in respect of some of the assets that were initially affected by the proceedings.
The EFCC had, in January, filed a civil forfeiture suit seeking the permanent forfeiture of 57 properties valued at about ₦212.8 billion, alleging that they were proceeds of unlawful activities linked to the former Attorney General.
On January 16, Justice Emeka Nwite, sitting as a vacation judge, granted an interim forfeiture order and directed the commission to publish the order in a national newspaper to allow interested parties to appear before the court and show cause why the assets should not be permanently forfeited.
The properties are located across the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as well as Kano, Kebbi and Kaduna states.
Following the publication of the interim order, Malami, his wife, Nana Hadiza Malami, his son, Abdulaziz Abubakar Malami, and several companies linked to the properties challenged the forfeiture proceedings.
They maintained that the assets were lawfully acquired and argued that the EFCC failed to establish any connection between the properties and the alleged unlawful activities.
The respondents also contended that the commission relied on speculation rather than credible evidence and neither proved that the assets were proceeds of crime nor identified any specific criminal offence from which they were allegedly derived.
After the court resumed from its annual vacation, the case was reassigned to Justice Abdulmalik for hearing and determination.
During the proceedings, counsel for the EFCC argued that investigations showed the properties were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities and held in the names of individuals and companies acting as fronts for Malami.
The anti-graft agency further submitted that under the law governing civil forfeiture proceedings, it was only required to establish reasonable suspicion rather than prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt.
After parties adopted their final written addresses in May, the court reserved judgment.
The judgment, originally scheduled for July 6, was postponed twice before Justice Abdulmalik delivered the final ruling on Wednesday.
