How I Acquired My Properties Through Legitimate Means — Malami

Abubakar Malami, SAN, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has appeared before a Federal High Court in Abuja to defend the legality of his properties targeted for forfeiture by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Malami told the court that the assets were acquired through lawful channels and fully declared in his assets declaration forms filed with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

In a motion filed on his behalf, Malami’s legal team, led by Joseph Daudu, SAN, alleged that the EFCC obtained the interim forfeiture order through suppression of material facts and misrepresentation. The motion details multiple streams of income and profits from Malami’s businesses over the years, which, according to his counsel, clearly demonstrate that the properties were lawfully acquired.

Court documents submitted on Malami’s behalf show:

N374.63 million from salaries, estacodes, severance allowances, and other entitlements

N574.07 million from disposed assets

N10.017 billion in business turnover, including N2.522 billion provided as loans to his businesses

N958 million received as traditional gifts from personal friends

N509.88 million from the launch and public presentation of his book Contemporary Issues on Nigerian Law and Practice: Thorny Terrains in Traversing the Nigerian Justice Sector: My Travails and Triumphs

Malami is challenging the interim forfeiture of three of the 57 properties listed by the EFCC:

1. Plot 157, Lamido Crescent, Nasarawa GRA, Kano, purchased on July 31, 2019

2. Bedroom duplex with boys’ quarters at No.12 Yalinga Street, Wuse II, Abuja, purchased in October 2018 for N150 million

3. ADC Kadi Malami Foundation Building, purchased for N56 million and held in trust for the estate of his late father, Late Khadi Malami

Justice Emeka Nwite, acting as vacation judge, had on January 6 ordered the temporary forfeiture of the 57 properties suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities. The EFCC was directed to publish the order in a national newspaper for interested persons to show cause within 14 days why the properties should not be permanently forfeited. The assets are located in Abuja, Kebbi, Kano, and Kaduna States.

Malami’s counsel argued that the interim forfeiture infringes on his constitutional rights, including the right to property, the presumption of innocence, and the right to live peacefully with his family. The motion, filed under case number FHC/ABJ/CS/20/2026, requests the court to vacate or discharge the interim order on the three specified properties.

Daudu emphasized that properties No. 9 and 18 had been declared in Malami’s CCB filings in 2019 and 2023, while property No. 48 is held in trust for his late father’s estate. He argued that the EFCC failed to provide prima facie evidence linking the properties to unlawful activity and that the interim order was obtained by exaggeration, malicious inflation of values, and misrepresentation.

The court had initially adjourned the matter for January 27 to review compliance with the publication of the order, but proceedings could not go ahead because the case was not on the cause list after the vacation period. Lawyers representing other parties were also present in the courtroom to prevent final forfeiture hearings from proceeding.

Malami currently faces money laundering charges from the EFCC and is also in the custody of the Department of State Services in connection with allegations of terrorism financing.