Immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN), has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to reverse its January 6 order for the interim forfeiture of some of his properties.
Malami, in a motion filed by his lawyer, Joseph Daudu (SAN), also provided details of his earnings while in office.
In the motion, he is seeking the release of three out of the 57 properties affected by the interim forfeiture order granted by Justice Emeka Nwite following an ex parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Malami is asking the court for two reliefs.
He is seeking an order vacating, setting aside or discharging the interim forfeiture order of January 6, 2026, as it relates to properties listed as numbers 9, 18 and 48 in the schedule attached to the forfeiture order.
He said the properties were duly declared in his asset declaration forms throughout his tenure as a public officer, adding that property No. 48 is held in trust for the estate of his late father, Khadi Malami Nassarawa.
He is also asking the court to restrain the EFCC, its agents or privies from interfering with the properties or disturbing his ownership, possession and control of them while purportedly enforcing the interim forfeiture order.
The three properties include Plot 157, Lamido Crescent, Nasarawa GRA, Kano, purchased on July 31, 2019.
The others are a bedroom duplex with boys’ quarters at No. 12, Yalinga Street, off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja, purchased in October 2018 for N150 million, and the ADC Kadi Malami Foundation Building, acquired for N56 million.
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The latter two are listed as numbers 18 and 48 in the EFCC’s schedule.
Malami argued that the properties listed as numbers 9, 18 and 48, which are the subject of the interim forfeiture, are not linked by any prima facie evidence to unlawful activity or a specific offence.
He said he declared the assets listed as numbers 9 and 18 in his asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in 2019 and 2023.
According to him, property listed as number 48 is held in trust for the estate of his late father.
“These assets, their value and their root of title have been clearly stated and specifically demonstrated in the various asset declaration forms spanning from 2019 to 2023,” Malami said.
“The declaration above is prima facie evidence of the legitimacy of the acquisition and ownership of the properties.”
Malami stated that his asset declarations also detailed his earnings to include N374,630,900 from salaries, estacodes, severance allowances and other official income.
He said he earned N574,073,000 as income from disposed assets; recorded a turnover of N10,017,382,684 from businesses; extended loans of N2.522 billion to businesses; and received N958 million as traditional gifts from personal friends.
He further stated that N509.88 million was realised from the launch and public presentation of his book titled “Contemporary Issues on Nigerian Law and Practice, Thorny Terrains in Traversing the Nigerian Justice Sector: My Travails and Triumphs.”
“These streams of income, and the continuing profits generated from the businesses over the years, sufficiently show that the properties sought to be forfeited were acquired through legitimate and lawful means,” he said.
Malami argued that the interim forfeiture order was not based on any prima facie evidence of unlawful activity and was therefore liable to be set aside.
He accused the EFCC of suppressing material facts and misrepresenting information to obtain the order ex parte, alleging exaggeration and inflation of asset values through manipulated valuations designed to mislead the court.
He also argued that the proceedings amounted to an infringement of his fundamental right to property, presumption of innocence and right to peaceful family life.
According to him, the court should dismiss or strike out the suit to prevent conflicting outcomes and duplicative litigation.
