While Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been receiving commendations for securing the forfeitures of properties worth billions of naira linked to former public officers and others, it is hoped it will sustain the momentum by ensuring that all corruption cases are diligently prosecuted without fear, political consideration and distractions, Wale Igbintade writes. One of the current puzzles arising from developments associated with the ongoing anti-corruption battle in Nigeria is how the once powerful former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN), has fallen so lowly following allegations of massive fraud against him and the staggering results of the investigations allegedly indicting him – a development that has led to his arrest and detention by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Another puzzle surrounding Malami is the sheer number of properties considered today as parts of the proceeds of his alleged corruption activities – properties which have been calculated in hundreds of billions of naira. Already, the Federal High Court in Abuja, has ordered the final forfeiture of 48, out of 57 properties, worth N212 billion, linked to the former AGF. The 57 properties, including hotels and luxury homes, were initially seized by the EFCC through an interim forfeiture order. According to the court, 48 of the said properties would be handed over to the federal government. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik who granted the final forfeiture application filed by the anti-graft commission, ruled that the objections filed by Malami, his family members and some companies, claiming ownership of the properties, “lacked merit.” Investigations show that beyond Malami’s eventual fall, Nigerians are more in shock over the humongous sums that is the value of the properties in question, as they wonder aloud how a human being, more so, a professional lawyer and a chief law officer of the country, not a known concrete business personality would illegally acquire and keep such seemingly endless number of physical properties for himself and his family, not to talk of other illicit investments that may still be breathing in the shadows. Just as the Malami’s scandal was still trending, the report on the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja ordering the final forfeiture of multi-billion naira properties, jewelry and exotic cars linked to a businesswoman, Ms Aisha Achimogu’s to the federal government broke. The properties include: jewelry worth N4.6billion, 11 exotic cars worth N4.23billion, $50,000 and N30million cash. Delivering judgment on the EFCC’s application for final forfeiture, Justice Jude Onwugbuzie held that Achimogu failed to discharge the legal burden of proving that the assets were acquired through legitimate means. As if that was not enough, a Federal High Court in Lagos equally ordered the final forfeiture of 52 terrace and maisonette housing units in the Lekki area of Lagos to the federal government after ruling that the properties were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities. Before that, Justice Aluko had directed the anti-graft agency to publish the interim forfeiture order in a national newspaper to allow any interested parties to show cause why the properties should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government. But when the alleged owners of the properties could not sufficiently prove how they came about the resources to possess the properties, Justice Owoeye ordered that the forfeiture of the assets. The EFCC went back to court to establish that it reasonable grounds to suspect that the properties were proceeds of unlawful activities and urged the court to grant the application for permanent forfeiture. It contended that the second respondent, Ifeanyi Nweke, was a fugitive facing criminal charges. In her ruling, Justice Owoeye rejected the respondents’ affidavit, describing it as contradictory. She held that the EFCC had successfully established a legal basis for the forfeiture but rejected the respondents’ affidavit, describing it as contradictory. “The consequence is that there is no opposition to the motion filed by the 1st and 2nd Applicants for the grant of an order of final forfeiture,” the judge ruled. The assets forfeiture scandals have opened up the debate on how some Nigerian have been stealing the country dry without giving thought to the plight of over 150million unfortunate citizens that are not sure where or how to get their next meals. It also shows crazy sleaze through which Nigerian wealth is consistently diverted into the pockets of a few privileged citizens. This is why many are commending the EFCC for its diligence in the investigations and prosecution of the cases. They posited that if the trend is maintained, the anti-corruption
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