Malami: EFCC Plans Appeal Over Nine Properties as Olukoyede Reveals 57 Assets Traced

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to challenge a Federal High Court ruling that rejected its bid to permanently forfeit nine properties linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

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

The 2026 event, themed “Asset Recovery and the Rule of Law – Taking the Profit Out of Crime,” attracted law enforcement officers, judges, prosecutors and economic crime experts from across the world.

Speaking at the symposium, Olukoyede disclosed that EFCC investigations had traced 57 properties to Malami, with the courts granting final forfeiture orders covering 48 of the properties.

He said the commission was considering an appeal to secure the forfeiture of the remaining nine properties situated 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,” Olukoyede said.

The EFCC chairman’s comments came after the Federal High Court in Abuja, in a July 15 ruling, ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to the former AGF.

The properties had initially been subjected to an interim forfeiture order issued in January.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik ruled that the EFCC had established sufficient grounds for permanently forfeiting the 48 properties, which the commission alleged were linked to unlawful activities.

However, the court dismissed the application relating to nine properties located in Kebbi and Kaduna, finding that the EFCC had not sufficiently demonstrated that the properties were acquired through unlawful means.

Olukoyede said civil forfeiture had become an important tool for the EFCC because it allowed the commission to pursue the recovery of suspected proceeds of crime without waiting for criminal proceedings to reach their conclusion.

He said successful non-conviction-based asset forfeiture depended on strong asset tracing, reliable intelligence and adequate judicial support.

EFCC Offers 2.5%-5% Reward for Asset Recovery Tips

Olukoyede also announced that the EFCC would pay whistleblowers between 2.5 per cent and five per cent of recovered assets when information supplied by them results in the recovery of stolen Nigerian assets.

He called on members of the public, especially those who know where allegedly illicit Nigerian assets have been moved abroad, to provide credible information to the commission.

He said the reward was intended to motivate citizens to participate in the identification and recovery of assets suspected to have been illegally acquired.

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

The EFCC chairman stressed that credible public intelligence remained vital to tracing and recovering suspected illicit assets, particularly those moved across international borders.

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