The alleged ₦8.7 billion money laundering trial involving former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN), has been reassigned to a new judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, alongside a related asset forfeiture suit involving dozens of properties linked to the former minister.
Findings revealed that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court has reassigned both matters to Justice Obiora Egwuatu following the end of the court’s annual vacation.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had late last year filed criminal charges against Malami, his son, Abdulaziz Malami, and Hajia Bashir Asabe, an alleged employee of Rahamaniyya Properties Limited, a firm reportedly associated with the former AGF.
The anti-graft agency accused the defendants of conspiring to launder about ₦8.7 billion through the indirect acquisition and retention of funds and properties believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities, contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition and Prevention) Acts of 2011 (as amended) and 2022.
The defendants were initially arraigned on December 30 before Justice Emeka Nwite, who sat as the vacation judge of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court. On January 6, Justice Nwite also granted an ex parte application by the EFCC, ordering the interim forfeiture of 57 properties allegedly acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
However, in line with standard court procedure, the cases were returned to the Chief Judge for reassignment at the conclusion of the court vacation.
The asset forfeiture suit has now been fixed for hearing on February 12, while the substantive money laundering charge is scheduled for arraignment on February 16 before Justice Egwuatu.
Meanwhile, Malami has approached the court to challenge the interim forfeiture order issued against his assets. In a motion filed by his counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), the former AGF urged the court to set aside the January 6 order, describing it as wrongly granted.
Malami is seeking the release of three of the 57 properties affected by the interim forfeiture. The properties include Plot 157, Lamido Crescent, Nasarawa GRA, Kano, purchased on July 31, 2019; a four-bedroom duplex with boys’ quarters at No. 12, Yalinga Street, off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja, allegedly acquired in October 2018 for ₦150 million; and the ADC Kadi Malami Foundation Building, reportedly purchased for ₦56 million.
In his application, the former AGF argued that the properties listed as numbers 9, 18 and 48 in the EFCC’s schedule were not linked by any prima facie evidence to unlawful activity or any specific criminal offence.
He maintained that properties numbered 9 and 18 were duly declared in his asset declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in 2019 and 2023, while property number 48, he said, is held in trust for the estate of his late father, the late Kadi Malami.
Malami further contended that the assets, their values and sources of acquisition were clearly disclosed over the years, which he described as prima facie proof of their legitimacy.
According to him, his declared lawful earnings include ₦374.6 million from salaries, estacodes and severance allowances; ₦574.07 million from disposed assets; over ₦10 billion in business turnover; ₦2.52 billion in loans to businesses; ₦958 million received as traditional gifts from personal associates; and about ₦509.88 million realised from the launch of his book, “Contemporary Issues on Nigerian Law and Practice, Thorny Terrains in Traversing the Nigerian Justice Sector: My Travails and Triumphs.”
He accused the EFCC of suppressing material facts and misrepresenting information to secure the ex parte order, alleging that the commission maliciously exaggerated the value of the assets to mislead the court.
The former AGF also urged the court to dismiss or strike out the forfeiture suit to avoid duplicative proceedings and the risk of conflicting judicial outcomes.
Both matters are expected to come up before Justice Egwuatu later this month.