FORMER Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN), has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that he earned hundreds of millions of naira from salaries, allowances and traditional gifts, as he moved to stop the interim forfeiture of several properties seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
News Point Nigeria reports that Malami made the disclosure in a fresh legal challenge against the anti-graft agency, which had earlier secured a court order for the interim forfeiture of 57 properties allegedly linked to him and two of his sons.
On January 6, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court granted an ex parte application filed by the EFCC, ordering the temporary forfeiture of the properties, which the agency said were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
The properties were allegedly connected to Malami and his sons, Abdulaziz Malami and Abiru Rahman Malami.
In granting the order, the court directed the EFCC to publish the forfeiture notice in a national daily, inviting interested parties to appear within 14 days to show cause why a final forfeiture order should not be made.
In response, Malami, through his legal team led by Joseph Daudu (SAN), filed a motion on notice, accusing the EFCC of suppression of material facts and misrepresentation in obtaining the interim forfeiture order.
The former AGF urged the court to dismiss the forfeiture proceedings, arguing that they violated his constitutional rights, including his right to property, presumption of innocence, and right to family life.
The application, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/20/2026 and filed on January 27, specifically challenged the forfeiture of three properties listed as numbers 9, 18 and 48 in the EFCC’s application.
The disputed properties include: plot 157, Lamido Crescent, Nasarawa GRA, Kano, purchased on July 31, 2019, a bedroom duplex with boys’ quarters at No. 12, Yalinga Street, off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja, acquired in October 2018 for N150 million and the ADC Kadi Malami Foundation Building, purchased for N56 million.
Malami asked the court to set aside the interim forfeiture order as it affects the three properties and to restrain the EFCC from interfering with his ownership and control of them.
He also claimed that one of the properties is held in trust for the estate of his late father, Kadi Malami.
In a 14-ground argument, Daudu told the court that the EFCC failed to establish any prima facie link between the properties and proceeds of unlawful activity.
He said Malami had fully declared the assets in question in his asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in 2019 and 2023.
“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,” Daudu said.
The senior lawyer further outlined Malami’s declared sources of income, insisting that the former AGF had substantial legitimate earnings capable of funding the acquisition of the properties.
According to court documents, Malami declared: N374,630,900 from salaries, estacodes, severance allowances and other official earnings, income from sitting allowances as a board and committee member of bodies including the Federal Judicial Service Commission, FCT Judicial Service Commission, and the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, N574,073,000 generated from disposal of assets, N10.01 billion as turnover from businesses, N2.52 billion as loans to businesses and N958 million received as traditional gifts from personal friends.
Daudu also disclosed that Malami earned N509.88 million from the 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 sufficiently show that the properties sought to be forfeited were acquired through legitimate and lawful means,” the lawyer argued.
He further accused the EFCC of misleading the court. “The interim order was obtained ex parte by suppression of material facts and misrepresentation,” Daudu said.
However, proceedings could not continue as the matter was not listed on the cause list for the day.
The case, which had been handled during the court’s vacation, was returned to the Chief Judge for reassignment after Justice Nwite concluded all vacation matters.
It was also observed that several senior lawyers were present, having filed processes on behalf of their clients seeking to halt further steps toward the final forfeiture of the assets.
Malami, who served as Nigeria’s Attorney-General from 2015 to 2023, is currently facing a money laundering charge filed by the EFCC.
A source told News Point Nigeria that he is presently being detained at the Department of State Services (DSS) facility over a separate allegation bordering on terrorism financing.