The immediate past Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, on Tuesday, said the forceful takeover of his Abuja home by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was unconstitutional, illegal and an affront on the rule of law.
Malami argued that it was high-handed for the EFCC, a co-litigant in his legal feud with the Federal Government, to embark on illegal acts that are not backed by any valid court order.
Addressing newsmen on the issue, Malami said: “The incident that happened on Monday was not an isolated one, because it was further compounded by additional events this morning”.
“It is only natural,
logical, legal and judicial that no party is expected to overreach the court by way of taking unilateral steps that will place it in a situation of helplessness.
“But unfortunately, yesterday, without further recourse to the court, without seeking an order to seal my properties, without seeking an order to evict my family members and me from the property, without seeking a court order for the appointment of a receiver manager, the EFCC came on Monday to effect forceful eviction.
“They were unable to conclude the process on Monday and reinforced this morning with a lot of personnel that were armed and indeed forcefully took over possession of my family residence, and the family members were equally taken out of possession, Malami stated.
Malami submitted that the claim by the EFCC that it was acting based on a court order was untenable and illegal.
“The interesting part of the order, which the EFCC is claiming to be acting upon, is that it has no clear directives that the premises should be taken over, seized, or perhaps sold, or the occupants of the respective premises be evicted.
“But the most interesting part of the order is that an application was filed at my instance for setting aside the order. And the court fixed 20th April 2026, for the hearing of that application challenging the propriety or otherwise of the order.
“Conventionally and traditionally, by the act of securing the order by the EFCC, and by the act of joining issues on my part by way of filing an application seeking to set the order aside, issues have been joined by the parties, he argued.
The former AGF argued that, for the fact that a matter is pending before a court, “you cannot unilaterally act as a party to take steps that will render the court helpless.
He insisted that when a party is before the court, that party cannot on its own embark on an execution exercise.
“Executions of the court orders and processes are exclusive functions of court baillifs, sheriffs and judicial processes and not in any way, exclusive reserve and prerogative of a party to the litigation.
“So, what happened by way of forceful eviction of my family members, forceful taking over of my properties, and forceful invasion of these properties of mine is legally and judiciously unprecedented in Nigerian history and legal system.
“It has never been a tradition of perhaps even relying by an institution or establishment or government on interim orders to force an eviction of a co-litigant before a court of law.
“So my take is what is unfolding on the part of EFCC is indeed steps that are extrajudicial, unprecedented, unlawful, illegitimate and that are now intended apparently to cause a situation of helplessness on the part of the court, which had already fixed the hearing of the application relating to these properties to a certain date which is fixed for 28th day of April 2026.
“I think it is on this basis that I need to put across the situation that is unfolding. For me, the steps are legal, legitimate and judicial, and we will certainly embark on the judicial process to do the needful, the SAN said.
Malami lamented that the property that was invaded on Monday and Tuesday was his family’s house at No. 2 Kuranak Crescent, Off Amazon Street, Maitama, Abuja.
He contended that the implementation and execution of those processes are judicial functions and not functions that are peculiar or perhaps exclusive or prerogative of a litigant.
“EFCC and Abubakar Malami are the parties before the court in the circumstances. So, the idea of one of them, either the EFCC or Abubakar Malami to initiate processes without recourse to the court is unprecedented in Nigerian history.
“EFCC as a party before the court cannot enforce the order even if indeed they were granted an express order for eviction of my persons, an express order of taking over my property, an express order of perhaps appointment of a receiver manager, which in the circumstances needs to be litigated by the parties before the court, he emphasised.
Malami stated that insinuations of political undertones in his travails cannot legitimately be displaced.
