The Federal High Court in Abuja has postponed judgement again in the case about 57 properties linked to former Attorney General Abubakar Malami. This is the second time in one week that the court has rescheduled the judgement.
On Friday, the court set the new date for judgement as 15 July because Judge Joyce Abdulmalik did not sit. Court officials told our reporter they did not know why the judge was absent.
Originally, the court planned to give the judgement on Monday, 6 July, after hearing wrapped up on 26 May. But on Monday, they moved the date to Friday without providing a reason for the change.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) started the civil forfeiture case in January, along with a separate criminal case against Malami, his wife, and his son. In January, the EFCC got an interim forfeiture order for the properties.
This led to the permanent forfeiture proceedings. Malami and others argued that they obtained the assets legally. The EFCC claims its investigation found that the properties were bought with money from illegal activities and were in the names of people and companies acting on Malami's behalf.
The EFCC wants the court to make the interim forfeiture order permanent. They argue that their investigation ties the properties to Malami, even though they are registered in others' names.
Malami has challenged this application and denied owning the properties. His lawyer argued that the EFCC did not prove any link between Malami and the assets or show they were from illegal activities.
He also said the EFCC relied on guesses instead of solid proof and asked the court to throw out the case.
According to PREMIUM TIMES, the EFCC has seized 57 assets from Malami, worth N212.8 billion, which are currently under an interim forfeiture order from the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In early January, the court gave the interim forfeiture order after the prosecution told Judge Emeka Nwite, who was the vacation judge then, that the assets were from illegal activities.
The properties, worth billions, are mainly luxury homes and commercial buildings. They are located in Abuja, Kebbi, Kano, and Kaduna states. But Malami insists he bought the assets legally. Later, the case was handed over to Judge Abdulmalik after the court vacation ended.
On 21 April, the prosecution told Judge Abdulmalik that the main lawyer for the respondents was busy at the Court of Appeal. The judge stressed the importance of following court rules strictly. She pointed out that the interim forfeiture order had been published with a 14-day notice for interested parties to respond.
She then ordered all parties to file and serve their documents by 27 April. The judge also warned lawyers against doing anything to delay the process.
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