Nigeria's former attorney general lost 48 properties to an order needing no conviction

On 15 July 2026 Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered 48 properties permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Nobody had been convicted of anything. That is not a gap in the order. It is the design of the statute the court applied.

The properties are linked to Abubakar Malami, who was Nigeria's Attorney General and Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2023, and to family members and companies named alongside him. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had asked for 57. The judge released nine, valued in Premium Times reporting at about 28.7 billion naira, and granted the rest. Reported valuations of what was forfeited do not agree: Premium Times put the 48 at about 180.4 billion naira, while CNBC Africa and several Nigerian outlets carried figures above 212 billion naira for the same list. The interim order that started the process was reported by allAfrica at 231 billion naira across 57 properties. No source we opened reconciled the three numbers.

The instrument is section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006. Its text, published in the Laws of Nigeria collection, lets the High Court forfeit property that is reasonably suspected to be the proceeds of unlawful activity, starting with an ex parte interim order, followed by publication inviting anyone with an interest to show cause within 14 days, then a motion for final forfeiture. The section says in terms that an order under it shall not be based on a conviction. The threshold is that the court be reasonably satisfied, not that guilt be proved beyond reasonable doubt.

That threshold decided this case. The judge framed the question as not who owns the properties but how legitimate were the funds used to acquire them. The commission's investigating officer, Daniel Adebayo, deposed that Malami was paid 89,664,000 naira in salary across the eight years, and declared travel allowances of 253,608,500 naira, giving a lawful public income of roughly 355 million naira. Premium Times reported the court also noted 12 million naira in severance. Against that, the schedule of assets runs to hotels, plazas, warehouses, filling stations, a printing press, an agro allied factory, mosques, housing estates and large land parcels across Abuja, Kano, Kebbi and Kaduna. It includes Rayhaan University in Kebbi State, its permanent, temporary and third sites, the vice chancellor's house, and Rayhaan Radio in Birnin Kebbi.

Malami contests all of it. In April 2026 he set out a defence, reported by ThisDay, that every property was lawfully funded and declared to the Code of Conduct Bureau before the commission moved, and he put four declaration forms from 2015, 2019 and 2023 on the record. He documented 15.5 billion naira of income for the period, of which 10.01 billion naira was business turnover, 3.52 billion naira bank loans, 958 million naira wedding gifts and 509.8 million naira from book launches. He disputed the valuations, saying a Maitama duplex the commission priced at 5.95 billion naira had cost 500 million naira, and produced independent appraisals. His counsel, Adedayo Adedeji, filed a 109 paragraph affidavit sworn by Malami and argued the court could not decide the matter without oral evidence, which it had refused, and that the commission was relying on extrajudicial material meant for cross examination at a criminal trial.

Two days after the judgment, on 17 July 2026, a statement issued through his media aide Bello Doka said he respectfully disagreed with aspects of it, remained committed to the rule of law and judicial independence, and had instructed his lawyers to go to the Court of Appeal. Vanguard reported the instruction, not a filing. There are also 16 counts of money laundering and conspiracy pending against him before a different judge, to which CNBC Africa reports he has pleaded not guilty. Nothing in those charges has been determined and nothing here should be read as though it had been.

Australia runs the same machinery at a different scale. On 7 August 2026 the District Court of Queensland forfeited 301,292 dollars to the Commonwealth, being 290,000 dollars in cash seized in July 2023 plus interest, under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The Australian Federal Police stated plainly that the Act allows restraint and forfeiture on the civil standard regardless of whether a related prosecution exists. The criminal charges in that matter were still pending when the money was gone.

What is not known is whether the Court of Appeal disturbs the Nigerian order, what the 48 properties actually fetch if sold, whether a functioning university and radio station keep operating under government hands, and where any proceeds finally land.