‎ By Teddy Nwanunobi
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‎An Abuja Federal High Court has ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties that are linked to a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to the Federal Government.
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‎Presided over on Wednesday by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, the court, however, discharged the interim forfeiture order in respect of nine other properties that are in Kebbi and Kaduna states.
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‎Daily NewsCraft reports that the forfeited properties are valued at about N212 billion.
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‎Abdulmalik, in her judgment, held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had established the reasonable suspicion required by law to justify the forfeiture of the assets.
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‎She ruled that Malami, his family members and companies linked to the properties failed to dislodge the commission’s allegation that the assets were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
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‎Before delivering the substantive judgment, Abdulmalik dismissed several applications, motions on notice and applications to show cause filed by the respondents, describing them as “wanting in merit.”
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‎She held that the issue before the court was not the ownership of the properties but the legitimacy of the funds used to acquire them.
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‎“The issue before the court is not who owns the property, but how legitimate are the funds used to acquire the property,” the judge said.
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‎She added that the respondents had “not dislodged the reasonable suspicion that the property was acquired by unlawful activities.”
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‎Relying on Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, Abdulmalik granted the EFCC’s application for final forfeiture.
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‎The anti-graft agency had, in January, instituted civil forfeiture proceedings seeking the permanent forfeiture of 57 properties valued at N212.8 billion, alleging that they were proceeds of unlawful activities linked to the former AGF.
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‎On January 16, vacation judge Justice Emeka Nwite granted an interim forfeiture order over the property and directed the EFCC to publish the order in a national newspaper to enable interested persons to appear before the court and show cause why the assets should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
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‎The properties are located in Abuja, Kano, Kebbi and Kaduna states.
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‎Following the publication, Malami, his wife, Nana Hadiza Malami; his son, Abdulaziz Abubakar Malami; and several companies linked to the assets challenged the interim forfeiture order.
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‎They argued that the property were lawfully acquired and contended that the EFCC failed to establish any nexus between the assets and the alleged unlawful activities.
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‎The respondents further maintained that the commission relied on speculation rather than credible evidence and neither proved that the property were proceeds of crime nor identified any specific criminal offence from which they were allegedly derived.
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‎After the court resumed from its annual vacation, the case was reassigned to Justice Abdulmalik for hearing and determination.
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‎At the hearing, counsel for the EFCC argued that investigations showed the property were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities and held in the names of individuals and companies acting as fronts for Malami.
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‎The commission also submitted that, under the law governing civil forfeiture proceedings, it only needed to establish reasonable suspicion and not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
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‎After the parties adopted their final written addresses in May, the court reserved judgment.
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‎The judgment, initially fixed for July 6, was deferred twice before Abdulmalik finally delivered the ruling on Wednesday.