Court Shifts Judgment In Malami 57-Property Forfeiture Suit To July 10

A Federal High Court in Abuja has postponed judgment in the EFCC’s forfeiture case involving 57 properties linked to former Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami until July 10.

The matter is a fresh step in a case NaijaTrend previously reported here, after Malami challenged the interim forfeiture order and denied that the assets were acquired through unlawful activity.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik had earlier fixed Monday for judgment after lawyers in the case adopted their processes. The case was listed on the day’s cause list but did not proceed, and no reason was given for the shift.

The EFCC is asking the court to order the final forfeiture of the properties to the Federal Government, arguing that they are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.

EFCC counsel Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, relied on a motion filed in February and supported by a 47-paragraph affidavit with 46 exhibits. He argued that Malami and the other respondents had failed to show that the properties were legitimately acquired.

Malami’s counsel, Adedayo Adedeji, SAN, opposed the application and relied on a 109-paragraph affidavit deposed to by the former AGF. The defence maintains that the assets should not be permanently forfeited.

Sources: Premium Times; Vanguard