A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the permanent forfeiture of 48 properties allegedly linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to the Federal Government.
The ruling was delivered on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had established that the assets were reasonably suspected to have been acquired through proceeds of unlawful activities.
The anti-graft agency had approached the court after obtaining an interim forfeiture order, asking that the assets be permanently confiscated after interested parties were given an opportunity to challenge the application.
According to the EFCC, investigations into the properties revealed that there was no satisfactory explanation showing they were acquired with legitimate earnings, prompting the commission to seek their final forfeiture.
In her judgment, Justice Abdulmalik ruled that the evidence placed before the court justified the permanent seizure of the assets, adding that those opposing the application failed to prove that the properties were lawfully acquired.
The court stressed that civil forfeiture proceedings are aimed at determining the legitimacy of assets and not the criminal liability of any individual.
The EFCC had originally sought the forfeiture of 57 properties allegedly connected to the former minister, but the court granted the application in respect of 48 properties, while nine others were excluded from the final order.
The affected assets include residential homes, commercial buildings, undeveloped plots of land and other real estate located in different parts of Nigeria.
The judge also rejected arguments that some of the properties belonged to members of Malami’s family, holding that ownership claims alone were insufficient without credible evidence showing that the assets were purchased with lawful funds.
The judgment represents one of the largest civil asset recovery victories recorded by the EFCC in recent months and further strengthens the commission’s ongoing campaign to recover assets believed to have been acquired through illicit means.
Although the properties have now been permanently forfeited to the Federal Government, the ruling does not amount to a criminal conviction, as any criminal proceedings involving the former Attorney-General remain separate from the civil forfeiture case.