The Federal High Court in Abuja has threatened to jail lawyers who violate court procedures in the ongoing forfeiture case involving 57 properties linked to Abubakar Malami, the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik issued the warning after EFCC lead counsel, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, complained that some lawyers for interested parties deliberately delayed serving their legal processes until April 18, despite filing them months earlier in January. Okutepa told the court he received a call at 8:31am on the day of the hearing from J.B. Daudu, SAN, who said he was leading a legal team to the Appeal Court for a time-sensitive Peoples Democratic Party matter and would send a letter explaining his absence. The EFCC lawyer expressed discomfort over the late service, noting that 14 lawyers had served their processes late, with one attempting to serve him inside the courtroom. He described the actions as a deliberate tactic to stall proceedings, stressing that the interim forfeiture order was published on January 9 as directed, giving interested parties 14 days to respond. Justice Abdulmalik condemned the conduct, stating that lawyers must abide by court rules, and warned that any lawyer who flouts the timeline would face contempt charges, including possible jail time. She set April 27 as the final date for all interested parties to file and serve their processes on the EFCC, with any submissions received on April 28 or later to be rejected outright. The judge also directed the EFCC to respond within one week to any validly served process, while respondents have four days to file replies. The case has been adjourned to May 26 for the hearing of all applications. The EFCC's motion for final forfeiture, filed by Okutepa and Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, argues that respondents have not presented sufficient evidence to overturn the interim order. The case was initially assigned to Justice Obiora Egwuatu, who recused himself for personal reasons, leading to its reassignment to Justice Abdulmalik.
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