Court Orders Forfeiture of 48 Properties Linked to Malami

On Wednesday, the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties associated with former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) successfully established that these assets were acquired through unlawful activities, as Malami failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove their legitimate source of income.

The court dismissed several applications filed by Malami and his family members, as well as companies linked to the assets, citing a lack of merit. The central issue was not the ownership of the properties but whether the funds used to acquire them were obtained legally.

The court granted the final forfeiture order but declined to grant the EFCC's request for the forfeiture of nine properties located in Kebbi and Kaduna states, as the agency failed to establish that these assets were acquired unlawfully. This judgment follows an interim forfeiture order granted on January 16, which involved 57 properties valued at N212.8 billion linked to Malami.