The Nigerian Government has initiated a criminal lawsuit against Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, before a Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing him of forgery and the use of falsified documents in connection with a contested property matter in the United Kingdom.
The suit was lodged on Friday by Osuobeni Akponimisingha, head of the ICPC’s high-profile prosecution unit, alongside Ngozi Onwuka, an assistant chief legal officer, acting on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation, in a three-count charge, designated FCT/HC/CR/010/2026.
Ozekhome (SAN) is alleged to have deliberately submitted fabricated documents, among them a Nigerian international passport, to substantiate his ownership claim over a property at 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX, during hearings before the London First-Tier Tribunal.
The purported offences are said to have occurred in August 2021 in Maitama, Abuja, and an area under the jurisdiction of the FCT High Court.
In the charge sheet, three counts, including allegations of providing false information, using forged documents, and attempting to mislead a public authority, were listed.
The charge read: COUNT ONE: That you Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN (M) ’68yrs’ of No. 53, Nile Street, Maitama, Abuja, sometime in August, 2021 or thereabout at a place outside Nigeria i.e. London, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, directly received house 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX purportedly given to you by one Mr Shani Tali, an act you knew constitutes a felony and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 13 and punishable under section 24 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences, Act, 2000.
COUNT TWO: That you Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN (M) ’68yrs’ of No. 53, Nile Street, Maitama, Abuja, sometime in August 2021 or thereabout at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, while being a legal practitioner and senior advocate of Nigeria did make a false document, to wit: Nigeria passport A07535463 bearing the name of Mr Shani Tali with intent to use same to support claim of ownership of property known and described as 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX with intent to commit fraud and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 363 and punishable under section 364 of the Penal Code CAP 532 laws of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, 2006.
COUNT THREE: That you Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN (M) ’68yrs’ of No. 53, Nile Street, Maitama, Abuja, sometime in August 2021 or thereabout at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, while being a legal practitioner and senior advocate of Nigeria dishonestly used as genuine a false Nigeria passport A07535463 bearing the name of Mr Shani Tali to support claim of ownership of property known and described a s 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX when you had reason to believe that the said document was false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 366 and punishable under Section 364 of the Penal Code CAP 532 laws of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, 2006.
The Federal Government named some witnesses it plans to present at trial, among them its investigators and an official from the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
The ruling of the London First-Tier Tribunal, extra-judicial statements, letters from relevant authorities, and passport data relating to Shani Tali are part of the documents to be presented in court as exhibits.
A date to commence trial for the case is yet to be fixed.
The property in dispute is situated at 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX, and the concerned parties in the controversy are Ozekhome and Jeremiah Useni, a late retired lieutenant general.
Ms. Tali Shani earlier filed a suit at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), Land Registration, UK, under case number REF/2023/0155, claiming that she is the rightful owner of the property, while Ozekhome, as the respondent, insisted that he received the house as a present from Mr. Tali Shani in 2021.
Mr. Shani has declared ownership of the house since 1993 and stated that he later engaged Useni, who was his elder friend and business partner, to manage his properties.
Mr. Shani had gone ahead to testify in court in support of the respondent (Ozekhome), maintaining that he had ‘powers of Attorney’ over the property, which he transferred to Ozekhome.
However, among the documents submitted by witnesses of Ms. Shani to substantiate claim to the property were an obituary announcement, NIN card, ECOWAS passport, phone number, and others, which the tribunal declared phony.
The case was finally dismissed, ruling that neither “Mr.” nor “Mrs" Shani existed, and declared that the real owner had a fake name, Useni.