The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

The forfeiture followed an order delivered on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The court held that the EFCC had successfully established that the properties were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities and were not acquired through legitimate sources of income.

At previous sittings, EFCC counsel, Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), urged the court to grant the forfeiture application. He noted that the motion, filed in February, was supported by a 47-paragraph affidavit and 46 exhibits.

Okutepa further told the court that the application, contained in three volumes, provided sufficient grounds for the properties to be permanently forfeited.

Relying on the documents before the court, he argued that Malami and the other respondents had “woefully failed to show cause” that the properties were acquired legitimately, urging the court to transfer ownership of the assets to the Federal Government.

However, counsel to Malami and the other respondents, Adedayo Adedeji (SAN), opposed the application and urged the court to dismiss it.

Adedeji stated that the respondents filed their counter-application on February 27, supported by a 109-paragraph affidavit personally deposed to by Malami.

He explained that the affidavit was intended to demonstrate why the court should not grant the EFCC’s request for final forfeiture.

The defence urged the court to set aside the earlier interim forfeiture order, insisting that the respondents had shown that the properties were not acquired with proceeds of criminal activities.

Adedeji also accused the EFCC of relying largely on suspicion rather than concrete evidence linking the assets to any crime.