By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Justice Obiora Egwatu has stepped aside from presiding over the Federal High Court’s asset forfeiture cases involving a former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and two others, for ‘personal reasons.’
The cases were recently reassigned to him by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, fixing February 12 for the civil forfeiture case and February 16 for the money laundering trial.
Justice Egwatu, on Thursday, February 12, told the court he could no longer continue with the matter shortly after counsel for the parties announced their appearances.
The judge directed that the case file be sent to the Chief Judge for reassignment.
The judge’s decision came shortly after the civil forfeiture suit linked to the 57 properties was mentioned in court on Thursday.
At the resumed hearing, EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, told the court that the matter was scheduled for mention.
He said the commission received a letter from Malami’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu, requesting an adjournment to Monday, February 16.
According to Iheanacho, Daudu explained in the letter that he was appearing before the Court of Appeal in another case, necessitating the adjournment.
Shortly after, Justice Egwuatu announced his recusal from the proceedings.
Justice Egwuatu’s withdrawal from the case comes amid a legal battle over 57 properties valued at about N213.2 billion linked to Malami and a separate N8.7 billion money laundering charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Malami, his wife, Asabe Bashir, and his son, Abdulaziz Malami.
On January 6, Justice Emeka Nwite, who served as a vacation judge, ordered that the properties be temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government.
The interim forfeiture followed an ex parte application by the EFCC, which insists the assets are suspected proceeds of unlawful activity linked to Malami and his sons.
The properties include university buildings, hotels, plazas, filling stations, residential estates, and large tracts of land in Abuja, Kebbi, Kano, and Kaduna states, all of which the EFCC says are reasonably suspected to have been illicitly acquired.
Justice Nwite’s interim order also directed the EFCC to publish the notice in a national newspaper and invite any interested parties to show cause within 14 days why the properties should not be permanently forfeited.
However, Malami challenged the forfeiture order, insisting that his wealth was legitimately acquired from six income sources and fully declared to the appropriate authorities.
The former AGF urged the court to dismiss the proceedings, warning against what he described as “conflicting outcomes” and “duplicative litigation,” while arguing that the action violated his rights to property, presumption of innocence, and family life.
He further asked the court to restrain the EFCC from interfering with his ownership, possession, and control of three properties numbered 9, 18, and 48 in the EFCC’s application, maintaining that one of the properties is held in trust for the estate of his late father, Kadi Malami.
