A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to a former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to the Federal Government.
Justice Joyce AbdulMalik, who delivered the judgment yesterday, held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), established the reasonable suspicion required by law to justify the forfeiture of the assets. The court ruled that Malami, his family members and companies linked to the properties failed to disprove the anti-graft agency’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. According to the judge, the issue before the court was not the 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”, Justice AbdulMalik said.
She added that the respondents had “not dislodged the reasonable suspicion that the property was acquired by unlawful activities”. Relying on Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for the final forfeiture of the 48 properties. The court, however, discharged the interim forfeiture order in respect of some of the properties.
Recall that the EFCC had, in January, instituted civil forfeiture proceedings seeking the permanent forfeiture of 57 properties valued at ₦212.8 billion, alleging that they were proceeds of unlawful activities linked to the former Attorney General.
On January 16, vacation judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, granted an interim forfeiture order over the assets and directed the commission to publish the order in a national newspaper to enable interested parties to show cause why the properties should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government. 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, his son, AbdulAziz Abubakar, and several companies linked to the assets challenged the forfeiture proceedings. They maintained that the properties were lawfully acquired and argued that the EFCC failed to establish any connection between the assets and the alleged unlawful activities. The respondents further contended that the Commission relied on speculation rather than credible evidence, insisting it neither proved that the properties were proceeds of crime nor identified any specific criminal offence from which they were allegedly derived.
At the hearing, counsel for the EFCC told the court that investigations revealed the properties were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities and held in the names of individuals and companies acting as fronts for Malami. The Commission also argued that under the law regulating civil forfeiture proceedings, it was only required to establish reasonable suspicion and not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
After parties adopted their final written addresses in May, the court reserved judgment. Although judgment was initially scheduled for July 6, it was deferred twice before Justice AbdulMalik eventually delivered the ruling yesterday.
