The Federal High Court in Abuja has been urged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to order the permanent forfeiture of 57 properties that are purportedly connected to former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami to the Federal Government.
In a motion on notice submitted by its legal team, which is led by Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) and Ekele Iheanacho (SAN), the anti-graft agency informed Justice Joyce Abdulmalik that the respondents had not presented the court with enough evidence to support the revocation of the previously issued interim forfeiture order.
Along with a number of businesses purportedly connected to the assets, the motion, designated FHC/ABJ/CS/20/2026, listed Malami, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and Abiru’ Rahman Abubakar Malami as respondents.
The EFCC brought the application pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offences Act, 2006, seeking “a final order of this honourable court forfeiting to the Federal Government of Nigeria, the properties described in the schedule below, which were found by the commission as properties reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.”
In arguing the motion, Okutepa claimed that the court had the legislative authority to provide the requested remedy and that the proceeding was a non-conviction-based forfeiture.
He added: “This honourable court made an interim order forfeiting the properties to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The order of the honourable court has been published in a national daily, namely THISDAY Newspaper of 9th January, 2026.
“No sufficient cause has been shown why the properties under the interim forfeiture order should not be finally forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria,” Okutepa argued.
According to an affidavit provided by Daniel Adebayo, an EFCC investigator, the agency received many petitions accusing the former minister of fraud, abuse of power, and corruption.
Adebayo stated that investigations involved obtaining financial records from banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria, as well as inquiries from agencies including the Corporate Affairs Commission, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Code of Conduct Bureau and the Abuja Geographical Information System.
He added that Malami’s earnings from 2015 to 2023, including salary, allowances, and estacodes, were not adding up with the worth of the properties that were the subject of the investigation.
“Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN) was the Hon. Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, hereinafter referred to as HAGF, from 2015 to 2023.
“He was paid a total of N89,664,000.00 as salary between 2015 and 2023, whilst in office, with an average payment of N962,663.68 per month.
“He also received a severance allowance of N12,158,400.00 at the end of his tenure in office.
“Mr Malami SAN was also paid estacodes allowances to cover his travel expenses whenever he travelled outside the country on official trips.
“He calculated and declared a total sum of N253,608,500.00 as the amount he received for the official trips between 2015 and 2023 in a letter written to the Chairman of the CCB as an addendum to his Assets Declaration Form in June 2023.
“Attached and collectively marked as Exhibit EFCC 2 & 3 are copies of the asset declaration forms filled out by Mr Malami SAN from 2015 to 2023, together with a letter dated 16th of June, 2023, written by him to the Chairman of the CCB as an addendum to the asset declaration form as found at his house during EFCC’s execution of a search warrant.”
57 landed properties, including those connected to Rayhaan University in Kebbi, were identified by the EFCC in the states of Abuja, Kebbi, Kano, and Kaduna.
The motion hearing was scheduled for April 21 by Justice Abdulmalik.
Recall that the lawsuit began on January 8, 2026, when Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued an order granting an interim forfeiture of the 57 properties in response to an ex parte plea from the EFCC.
The assets, estimated to be worth N213.2 billion, were allegedly connected to Malami and two of his sons and were thought to be the proceeds of illegal activity.
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