BREAKING: Malami tells court he earned over N12bn from salaries, businesses, gifts
Former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that he legitimately earned billions of naira from salaries, private businesses, gifts, loans, and book sales, as he seeks to vacate an interim forfeiture order placed on properties linked to him.
Mr Malami disclosed this in a motion on notice filed on his behalf by his lawyer, Joseph Daudu (SAN). The application urges the court to set aside an interim order that directed the seizure of three out of 57 properties allegedly linked to the former justice minister and currently under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to court documents, Mr Malami explained that his sources of income were duly declared in his asset declaration submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
The declared income includes N374,630,900 earned from salaries, estacodes, severance allowances, and other official earnings. He also stated that he made N574,073,000 from the disposal of assets.
The former attorney-general further claimed that his private business ventures recorded a turnover of N10,017,382,684, while he extended loans amounting to N2,522,000,000 to businesses.
In addition, Mr Malami said he received N958,000,000 as traditional gifts from personal friends. He also disclosed that N509,880,000 was realised from the launch and public presentation of his book titled “Contemporary Issues on Nigerian Law and Practice, Thorny Terrains in Traversing the Nigerian Justice Sector: My Travails and Triumphs.”
Mr Daudu argued that the interim forfeiture order was unjustified, insisting that the properties were acquired from lawful and verifiable sources of income already known to relevant authorities.
The EFCC had earlier obtained court approval to seize the 57 properties as part of an ongoing investigation, pending the determination of whether they should be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
The court is yet to fix a date to hear the application.
