ABUJA — The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday warned that it would not hesitate to jail any lawyer found culpable of breaching court procedures or deliberately stalling proceedings in the ongoing forfeiture case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against 57 properties linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik issued the stern warning after EFCC lead counsel, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, complained that some lawyers representing interested parties were serving court processes late, thereby delaying the hearing.
When the matter was called, the judge also declined to allow lawyers whose names were not on the official cause list to announce appearances, condemning what she described as procedural abuse.
Okutepa told the court that although the matter was scheduled for hearing of all pending applications, several respondents had continued to serve him fresh processes as late as the morning of the proceedings.
He said some processes filed as far back as January were only served on the prosecution in April, describing the situation as a deliberate attempt to frustrate the case.
According to him, about 14 lawyers had served processes late, while another counsel attempted to serve additional documents in open court.
“We are ministers in the temple of justice, my lord, and things should be done rightly,” Okutepa said, urging the court to give clear direction.
He noted that the interim forfeiture order on the 57 properties had been published on January 9, and that interested parties were required to show cause within 14 days why final forfeiture should not be granted.
Although he did not oppose adjournment, he urged the court not to allow procedural abuse to overwhelm the prosecution.
In her ruling, Justice Abdulmalik condemned what she described as “irregular and rascally conduct” by some counsel, warning that the court would not tolerate further delays.
“I will not take any rascallity from any lawyer. If you dare me, I will charge you for contempt, dock you and jail you,” the judge warned.
She directed all interested parties to file and serve their processes on or before April 27, while any process served on or after April 28 would not be accepted.
According to her, failure to comply would amount to self-exclusion from the proceedings.
The court also ordered the EFCC to respond within one week of service, while respondents were given four days to file replies thereafter.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the matter until May 26 for hearing of all applications.
The EFCC is seeking final forfeiture of the 57 properties allegedly linked to Malami and several individuals and companies.
The application, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/20/2026, was brought under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offences Act, 2006.
The anti-graft agency is asking the court to permanently forfeit the properties to the Federal Government on the grounds that they are reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
A sister court had earlier, on January 6, ordered interim forfeiture of the assets following an ex-parte motion filed by the EFCC.
The case was later reassigned to different judges before being fixed before Justice Abdulmalik for hearing of all pending applications.