EFCC to challenge court ruling on forfeiture of nine properties linked to ex-AGF Malami

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced plans to appeal a Federal High Court decision dismissing its application for the final forfeiture of nine properties linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this on Wednesday while speaking at the 43rd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Olukoyede said the commission would challenge the ruling at the appropriate appellate court as it continues its efforts to recover assets allegedly linked to financial crimes.

The 2026 symposium, themed “Asset Recovery and the Rule of Law – Taking the Profit Out of Crime,” brought together law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors and experts from various countries to examine strategies for recovering proceeds of crime.

Olukoyede said the commission had traced 57 properties to Malami and secured final forfeiture orders over 48 of them.

He said the commission was considering an appeal against the court’s decision concerning the remaining nine properties located in Kebbi and Kaduna states.

“Sometimes last year, I opened investigations upon reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office by the immediate past Attorney-General of Nigeria.

“We discovered that within eight years of his being in office, we were able to trace about 57 such properties to him. We’ve been able to forfeit about 48.

“Even the nine that were left for him, I’m considering filing an appeal so that we can take everything away from him. And we’re going to do that,” he said.

The development followed a July 15 ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to the former AGF.

The properties had earlier been placed under an interim forfeiture order in January.

In the ruling, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik held that the EFCC had established sufficient grounds for the final forfeiture of the 48 properties, which the commission had alleged were proceeds of unlawful activities.

However, the judge dismissed the application concerning nine other properties in Kebbi and Kaduna states, holding that the EFCC had not established that they were acquired through unlawful means.

Olukoyede said the commission’s recourse to civil forfeiture had strengthened its ability to recover assets suspected to be proceeds of crime without having to wait for the conclusion of criminal trials.

He identified effective asset tracing, credible intelligence and judicial support as critical to the success of non-conviction-based asset forfeiture.

EFCC to Reward Whistleblowers With Up to 5%

The EFCC chairman also disclosed that the commission would reward whistleblowers with between 2.5 per cent and five per cent of recovered assets where information supplied by them leads to the recovery of stolen Nigerian assets.

He urged members of the public, particularly those with information on assets allegedly moved outside Nigeria, to provide credible intelligence to the commission.

According to Olukoyede, the incentive is intended to encourage citizens to support efforts to trace and recover illicitly acquired Nigerian assets.

“The citizens must be encouraged with your whistleblower protection,” he said.

“If any of you is privy to where Nigerian asset is stolen or taken to anywhere in the world, we have an incentive for you. Between 2.5 and 5 percent is going to go back to you upon recovery.

“You can never tell, if you give me any information, some of you here may leave this place a multi-millionaire in dollars before the end of this month.”

Olukoyede said credible intelligence from members of the public remained essential to effective asset tracing and recovery, particularly where suspected illicit assets had been transferred across borders.

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