- Safiu Kehinde
The Abuja Federal High Court judge, Justice Obiora Egwatu, has withdrawn himself from the asset forfeiture suit filed against the embattled former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, by the Ecomnomic and Financial Crimes Commisiion (EFCC).
Egwatu announced his withdrawal from the case during the resumption of court’s sitting on Thursday.
The judge who was joined by two other respondents cited personal reasons as the cause of his withdrawal from the case.
“Ladies and gentlemen, for personal reasons, and for the better interest of justice, I will recuse myself from this case,” he said.
Egwatu directed that the file should be forwarded to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge.
He said the matter, marked as CR/700/2025, would be returned to the Chief Judge “for further directives.”
According to reports, the case is part of a legal battle over 57 properties valued at about N213.2 billion, which were temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria last month by Justice Emeka Nwite.
Recall that an interim forfeiture order was granted on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, after an ex parte application by the EFCC
.The EFCC says the assets are suspected proceeds of unlawful activity linked to Malami and his sons.
The properties listed include university buildings, hotels, plazas, filling stations, residential estates, and large tracts of land located in Abuja and in Kebbi State, Kano State, and Kaduna State, all in northern Nigeria.
Malami has challenged the interim forfeiture as he insisted that his wealth was lawfully acquired and fully declared to the appropriate authorities.
He urged the court to dismiss the case, warning against “conflicting outcomes” and “duplicative litigation,” and arguing that the action violated his rights to property, the presumption of innocence, and family life.
The ex-AGF also 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 application.
Malami said one of those properties is held in trust for the estate of his late father, Kadi Malami.