Justice Obiora Egwatu of the Federal High Court on Thursday recused himself from the asset forfeiture case involving former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), and two others, citing personal reasons.
The judge announced his decision shortly after counsel for the parties entered their appearances in court.
“For personal reasons, and in the interest of justice, I will recuse myself from this matter,” he stated.
Justice Egwatu subsequently ordered that the case file be returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment.
“The charge marked CR/700/2025 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Abubakar Malami (SAN) and two others is hereby referred back to the Chief Judge for further directives,” he ruled.
The development comes amid an ongoing legal dispute over 57 properties valued at approximately ₦213.2bn. The assets were temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government last month following an interim order granted by Justice Emeka Nwite.
The order, issued on January 6, followed an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which alleged that the properties are suspected proceeds of unlawful activities linked to Malami and his sons.
According to the EFCC, the properties—spread across Abuja, Kebbi, Kano and Kaduna states—include university buildings, hotels, shopping plazas, filling stations, residential estates and vast parcels of land believed to have been unlawfully acquired.
Justice Nwite also directed the anti-graft agency to publish the interim forfeiture order in a national newspaper and invite interested parties to appear before the court within 14 days to show cause why the assets should not be permanently forfeited.
Malami has challenged the forfeiture, maintaining that his wealth was legitimately earned and duly declared to the relevant authorities.
He urged the court to dismiss the proceedings, warning against what he described as duplicative litigation and the risk of conflicting judicial decisions. He also argued that the action infringes on his constitutional rights to property, presumption of innocence and family life.
Additionally, the former AGF asked the court to restrain the EFCC from interfering with his ownership and control of three properties—numbers 9, 18 and 48—listed in the commission’s application. He maintained that one of the properties is held in trust for the estate of his late father, Kadi Malami.
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