The Federal Government has filed criminal charges against Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, over alleged forgery and use of false documents in connection with a disputed property in the United Kingdom.
The 68-year-old senior lawyer is being prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), according to court documents obtained on Sunday. The three-count charge was filed on Friday before a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja by ICPC officials on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi.
Ozekhome is accused of knowingly presenting forged documents, including a Nigerian passport, to support his claim of ownership of a property located at 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX, during proceedings before the London First-Tier Tribunal. The alleged offences were said to have been committed around August 2021 in the Maitama area of Abuja.
According to the charge sheet, the counts border on giving false information, use of forged documents and attempting to deceive a public authority. One of the counts alleges that Ozekhome directly received the London property in August 2021, purportedly as a gift from one Shani Tali, an act the ICPC said constitutes a felony under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Another count accuses the senior lawyer of making a false Nigerian passport bearing the name of Mr Shani Tali, with the intent of using it to support his ownership claim over the London property, contrary to provisions of the Penal Code of the FCT. In the third count, he is alleged to have dishonestly used the purportedly false passport as genuine, despite having reason to believe the document was forged.
Ozekhome has yet to make an official statement on the charges.
The Federal Government has listed several witnesses it plans to call during the trial, including ICPC investigators and a representative of the Nigerian Immigration Service. Documents to be tendered as exhibits include the judgment of the London First-Tier Tribunal, extra-judicial statements, correspondence from relevant authorities and passport data linked to Shani Tali. A trial date has not yet been fixed.
The charges stem from a long-running property dispute involving Ozekhome and the late Jeremiah Useni, which was heard by the UK First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) under case number REF/2023/0155. In the case, Ozekhome claimed he received the property as a gift from Mr Tali Shani in 2021, while another claimant, Ms Tali Shani, asserted ownership of the same property.
During the proceedings, a witness identified as Mr Tali Shani testified in support of Ozekhome, claiming ownership of the property since 1993 and alleging that he later transferred it to Ozekhome. However, the tribunal found that documents tendered by both sides were unreliable and ultimately ruled that neither Mr nor Ms Tali Shani existed, declaring the late Useni as the true owner of the property.
