By Suleiman Anyalewechi
The immediate past Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has alleged a collusion between the Department of State Service, DSS, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFFC, to frustrate his efforts at filing his defence in the celebrated case involving the forfeiture of 57 Properties worth over N 213 billion.
The Source reports that a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had, on January 8, 2026, ordered the interim forfeiture of about 57 Properties suspected to be linked to Malami, his wife and son to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Honourable Justice Emeka Nwite who granted the order in an ex-parte motion brought before the court by the EFCC, also, directed that the forfeiture order be published in a national daily calling on interested persons to, within 14 days, show cause why the said properties should not be permanently forfeited.
“It is hereby ordered that an interim order of this honourable court is hereby made forfeiting to the Federal Government of Nigeria the properties described in Schedule 1 below which are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities”, Justice Nwite ruled.
According to a statement issued by the Commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the said properties which are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful transactions are scattered across three states of Kebbi , Kano Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory FCT Abuja.
The properties include hotels, plazas, filling stations, factories, university buildings empty plots of land and residential buildings.
But in a statement on Saturday from Mohammed Bello Doka, Malami’s media aide, the embattled former Justice Minister accused both the DSS and EFCC of acting in a way suggesting that they are in agreement to deny him the opportunity of filing his defence in the interim forfeiture case.
It will be recalled that Malami and his son, after spending several days at the Kuje Custodial Centre, were immediately rearrested after perfecting their bail conditions.
Malami alleged that despite being aware that one of the key conditionalities attached to his bail was the submission of his international passport to the court, the EFCC deliberately delayed the release of his travel documents including the said passport for over a week, thereby frustrating his efforts at perfecting his bail.
According to the statement, upon the perfection of the bail conditions after orchestrated delay tactics by the EFCC, Malami was immediately rearrested by the DSS and held for five days, a development which the former Minister fears was deliberately crafted to frustrate his efforts at preparing his defence.
Malami who served as the country’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice under the late President Mohammadu Buhari, lamented that he was only granted access to his legal team on Friday, January 23, describing the situation as “grave violation of his fundamental human rights.”
His spokesman expressed serious concern that the DSS detention came at a very critical moment in the EFCC’s forteiture case, when Malami was expected to file and open his case.
According to Doka, the deliberate denial of the former Minister access to his legal team during the period inhibited his ability to respond, file documents, consult and issue instructions, a situation that gravely endangers his defence before the Court.
While expressing his readiness to defend himself fully in court and in line with the law, Malami regretted what he described as “a troubling pattern” of arresting him before investigations are conducted.
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