Justice John Tsoho, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court (FHC), has reassigned the money laundering trial and the civil forfeiture suit involving Abubakar Malami, former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), to Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The reassignment affects both the criminal charge bordering on alleged money laundering and the civil suit seeking the forfeiture of 57 properties linked to Malami.
Hearing dates for the two cases have already been fixed by the court.
The civil forfeiture suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/20/2026, is scheduled for February 12, while the criminal case, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/700/2025, is fixed for February 16.
Malami, his wife, Hajia Asabe Bashir, and his son, Abdulaziz, are expected to be re-arraigned before Justice Egwuatu on a 16-count charge of alleged money laundering following the reassignment.
By legal practice, a case reassigned to a new judge is required to commence de novo, meaning it will be heard afresh without reference to any previous rulings or conclusions, unless the parties agree otherwise.
The trio were initially arraigned on December 30, 2025, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Emeka Nwite, who sat as a vacation judge during the Christmas break.
They were accused of laundering N8,713,923,759.49, but pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Following their arraignment, Malami and his son were remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre, while Asabe was remanded at the Suleja Correctional Centre.
They were later granted bail in the sum of N500 million each, with two sureties in like sum, on January 7.
Earlier, on January 6, Justice Nwite ordered the interim forfeiture of 57 properties allegedly linked to Malami and suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
The order was granted following an ex parte application filed by EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN.
The court also directed the EFCC to publish the forfeiture order in a national newspaper, inviting interested parties to show cause within 14 days why the properties should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
The properties, valued in several billions of naira, are located across Abuja, Kebbi, Kano and Kaduna states.
However, Malami has since challenged the forfeiture proceedings. In a motion on notice filed on January 27 by his legal team led by Joseph Daudu, SAN, the former AGF accused the EFCC of obtaining the interim forfeiture order through suppression of material facts and misrepresentation.
He urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that it amounted to duplicative litigation capable of producing conflicting outcomes and violated his fundamental rights to property, presumption of innocence and family life.
Meanwhile, Malami and his son are also facing a separate five-count charge bordering on alleged terrorism, filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik.
