EFCC Secures Final Forfeiture Of 48 Properties Linked To Malami

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has secured the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

The forfeiture was secured on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, following an order delivered by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Naija News reports that the Judge held that the EFCC had successfully established that the properties were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities and were not acquired with lawful sources of income.

According to the court, the central issue was not ownership of the properties but the legitimacy of the funds used to acquire them.

Relying on Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, Justice Abdulmalik granted the EFCC’s application for the final forfeiture of the 48 properties.

“The issue before the court is not who owns the properties, but how legitimate are the funds used to acquire the properties,” the judge held, adding that the respondents failed to dispel the reasonable suspicion that the assets were acquired through unlawful activities,” Abdulmalik ruled.

However, the court declined the anti-graft agency’s request to forfeit nine other properties located in Kebbi and Kaduna states, holding that the EFCC failed to prove they were proceeds of unlawful activities. The interim forfeiture order on those properties was consequently set aside.

At previous sittings, the EFCC counsel, Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), urged the court to grant the forfeiture application. Okutepa said the motion, filed in February, was supported by a 47-paragraph affidavit and 46 exhibits.

He told the court that the commission’s application was contained in three volumes and provided sufficient grounds for the properties to be permanently forfeited.

Relying on the documents before the court, the lawyer argued that Malami and the other respondents had “woefully failed to show cause” that the properties “were acquired legitimately”.

He consequently asked the court to transfer ownership of the disputed assets permanently to the Federal Government.

Counsel to Malami and the other respondents, Adedayo Adedeji (SAN), opposed the EFCC’s application and urged the court to dismiss it.

Adedeji said the respondents filed their application on February 27 and supported it with a 109-paragraph affidavit personally deposed to by Malami.

He explained that the affidavit was intended to show why the court should not grant the commission’s request for final forfeiture.

The lawyer urged the court to set aside the interim forfeiture order earlier made and hold that the respondents had established that the properties were not purchased with proceeds of criminal activities.

He accused the EFCC of basing its case largely on suspicion rather than concrete evidence linking the assets to any crime.