The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the interim forfeiture of 57 properties suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities linked to Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, former Minister of Justice, to the Federal Government.
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the order following an ex parte motion moved by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, to that effect.
The multi-billion naira landed properties are located in Abuja, Kebbi, Kano and Kaduna States.
Although the order was made on Tuesday, its certified true copy (CTC) was sighted by NAN on Wednesday.
“It is hereby ordered that an interim order of this honourable court is hereby made forfeiting to the Federal Government of Nigeria the properties described in Schedule 1 below, which are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities,” the judge said.
Justice Nwite, in the ruling, also directed the publication of the interim order of forfeiture in any national daily, “inviting any person(s) or body(ies) who may have interest in the properties listed in the schedule to show cause, within 14 days of the publication, why a final order of forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria of the said assets and properties should not be made.”
The judge then adjourned the matter until January 37 for the report of compliance.
The assets include:
Others are nine units of three-bedroom bungalows, three units of two-bedroom bungalows, and 5.4 hectares of land, which were purchased between February 2023 and September 2023 at N187,000,000.00, among other assets listed in the schedule.
Malami, his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz, are currently facing an alleged N8.7bn money laundering charge before Justice Nwite.
The EFCC had, in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/700/2025, named the ex-minister, Asabe, his wife and an employee of a firm linked to the former minister, Rahamaniyya Properties Ltd, and his son as 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants, respectively.
The anti-graft agency, in the 16 counts, accused the defendants of carrying out various suspicious transactions and attempting to conceal the unlawful origin of billions of naira through bank accounts and property acquisitions across Abuja, Kano and Kebbi.
They allegedly committed the offences between 2015 and 2025, a period that includes the eight years Malami served as the AGF during the late former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The commission alleged that Malami, his son, and Asabe conspired to disguise the origin of funds, acquire property indirectly, and retain sums they allegedly knew were proceeds of unlawful activity, in violation of the Money Laundering (Prohibition and Prevention) Acts of 2011 (as amended) and 2022.
In count one, the EFCC alleged that between July 2022 and June 2025, Malami and his son directed Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to conceal over one billion Naira in a Sterling Bank account, knowing the funds were proceeds of unlawful activity.
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