EFCC Wins Court Order To Seize 48 Properties Linked To Former AGF Malami
By Daniel Ojukwu
The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted a final forfeiture order transferring 48 properties linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to the Federal Government.
The decision was delivered on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who ruled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had presented sufficient evidence showing that the assets were suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
The forfeiture followed an application by the EFCC after an earlier interim order, during which interested parties were given the opportunity to appear before the court and explain why the properties should not be permanently confiscated.
During the proceedings, the anti-graft agency argued that investigations revealed that the properties could not be traced to any legitimate source of income and therefore qualified for forfeiture under existing laws.
In her judgment, Justice Abdulmalik held that those challenging the forfeiture failed to provide convincing evidence showing that the assets were lawfully acquired.
The judge stated that the court was satisfied with the evidence presented by the EFCC and consequently ordered that the 48 properties be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
The assets are part of a larger portfolio the commission had sought to recover in a civil forfeiture suit involving 57 properties allegedly linked to the former minister. However, the court declined to grant forfeiture over nine of the properties, leaving them out of the final order.
The forfeited assets reportedly include residential buildings, commercial properties, undeveloped plots of land and other high-value real estate spread across different parts of the country.
The court also dismissed claims that some of the properties belonged to members of Malami’s family, holding that the issue before it was whether the assets were acquired from legitimate sources and not merely who laid claim to them.
The ruling marks another significant development in the EFCC’s asset recovery drive, with the commission maintaining that recovering assets suspected to be proceeds of crime remains a key part of its anti-corruption campaign.
The final forfeiture order is a civil proceeding and is separate from any criminal cases involving the former Attorney-General, whose legal rights to challenge the judgment remain protected under the law.