Forgery Trial: Court grants Mike Ozekhome permission for six-week medical trip to UK
On 27 February, the office of the AGF arraigned Mr Ozekhome and his co-defendant, Ponfa Useni, on 12 counts of forgery and impersonation, which stemmed from a messy battle over property ownership in the United Kingdom.
The judge subsequently granted bail to each of the duo in the sum of N10 million, with one surety each. The judge also ordered that the defendants’ international passports be submitted to the court.
On Tuesday, it came to the judge’s knowledge that the prosecution (office of the AGF) had withheld and failed to deposit the defendants’ passports as part of the bail conditions of the court-granted bail in February.
This prompted the judge to order the prosecution to present the passports in court unfailingly today (Thursday).
The prosecution, adhering to the judge’s instruction, produced the passports of the defendants.
After the defendants confirmed that the passports produced belonged to them, the judge asked the prosecution lawyer, C.L. Asonta, to confirm again if there was no objection.
Ms Asonta stated there was no objection but requested a condition: that Mr Ozekhome submit his passport “within three working days upon his return.”
Thereafter, the judge ruled, “Having considered the motion and no objection, I hereby grant the request and temporary release of the first defendant’s international passport to enable him to go for his medical trip.”
The judge ordered that Mr Ozekhome’s six-week request starts from 9 July and ends on 20 August. The judge also adjourned the matter until 28 September.
The prosecution also alleged that Mr Ozekhome helped Ponfa Useni to impersonate Tali Shani in 2020. The prosecution said they created a fake “Irrevocable Power of Attorney” to help Mr Ozekhome claim the property.
They denied all the charges.
Mr Ozekhome’s prosecution in Nigeria stems from a London tribunal’s judgement that blocked him from claiming a property in North London in September 2025.
In August 2021, Mr Ozekhome sought to transfer the property to his name, claiming it was a gift from a man who presented himself as Tali Shani in appreciation for legal services.
But this was challenged in September 2022 by Westfields Solicitors, claiming to represent “Ms Tali Shani,” who insisted she was the registered owner of the property since 1993 and had never signed any transfer.
Ruling on the dispute, Judge Paton of the UK Tribunal ruled that the house was secretly bought in 1993 by the late Mr Useni, former Nigerian Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, using a false identity.
According to the tribunal, Mr Ozekhome’s steps to claim the property were built on a network of fraud, impersonation, and forged documents. Still, it concluded that the late Mr Useni, former Minister of FCT, was the genuine purchaser of the property in 1993.
Similarly, the London tribunal uncovered fraudulent Nigerian identity records, including a passport, a National Identification Number (NIN), and a Tax Identification Number (TIN) allegedly generated with the connivance of corrupt officials at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the Immigration Service, and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
These developments prompted the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee to suspend Mr Ozekhome’s SAN rank pending the completion of a disciplinary hearing.
What prosecution witnesses have said
Two prosecution witnesses have testified so far in the trial before the FCT High Court.
In March, the first prosecution witness, a Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) officer, testified that the passport with the name Tali Shani was fake.
Akim Aridegbe, a principal staff officer to the Comptroller-General of the NIS, said the passport was not issued by the NIS.
Despite the passport sharing features of a genuine copy, it has no record in the NIS database, Mr Aridegbe said.
Similarly, the second witness, Bamaiyi Mairiga, a forensic examiner, also testified that the passport was fake.
On Monday, Mr Ozekhome’s lawyer grilled Mr Mairiga during cross-examination and elicited answers from the witness on the technical procedures and the general principles of the probe he conducted into the forgery allegations against the defendants.
The witness maintained that his examination revealed that the Tali Shani passport was fake.
The judge subsequently granted bail to each of the duo in the sum of N10 million, with one surety each. The judge also ordered that the defendants’ international passports be submitted to the court.
On Tuesday, it came to the judge’s knowledge that the prosecution (office of the AGF) had withheld and failed to deposit the defendants’ passports as part of the bail conditions of the court-granted bail in February.
This prompted the judge to order the prosecution to present the passports in court unfailingly today (Thursday).
The prosecution, adhering to the judge’s instruction, produced the passports of the defendants.
After the defendants confirmed that the passports produced belonged to them, the judge asked the prosecution lawyer, C.L. Asonta, to confirm again if there was no objection.
Ms Asonta stated there was no objection but requested a condition: that Mr Ozekhome submit his passport “within three working days upon his return.”
Thereafter, the judge ruled, “Having considered the motion and no objection, I hereby grant the request and temporary release of the first defendant’s international passport to enable him to go for his medical trip.”
The judge ordered that Mr Ozekhome’s six-week request starts from 9 July and ends on 20 August. The judge also adjourned the matter until 28 September.
The prosecution also alleged that Mr Ozekhome helped Ponfa Useni to impersonate Tali Shani in 2020. The prosecution said they created a fake “Irrevocable Power of Attorney” to help Mr Ozekhome claim the property.
They denied all the charges.
Mr Ozekhome’s prosecution in Nigeria stems from a London tribunal’s judgement that blocked him from claiming a property in North London in September 2025.
In August 2021, Mr Ozekhome sought to transfer the property to his name, claiming it was a gift from a man who presented himself as Tali Shani in appreciation for legal services.
But this was challenged in September 2022 by Westfields Solicitors, claiming to represent “Ms Tali Shani,” who insisted she was the registered owner of the property since 1993 and had never signed any transfer.
Ruling on the dispute, Judge Paton of the UK Tribunal ruled that the house was secretly bought in 1993 by the late Mr Useni, former Nigerian Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, using a false identity.
According to the tribunal, Mr Ozekhome’s steps to claim the property were built on a network of fraud, impersonation, and forged documents. Still, it concluded that the late Mr Useni, former Minister of FCT, was the genuine purchaser of the property in 1993.
Similarly, the London tribunal uncovered fraudulent Nigerian identity records, including a passport, a National Identification Number (NIN), and a Tax Identification Number (TIN) allegedly generated with the connivance of corrupt officials at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the Immigration Service, and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
These developments prompted the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee to suspend Mr Ozekhome’s SAN rank pending the completion of a disciplinary hearing.
What prosecution witnesses have said
Two prosecution witnesses have testified so far in the trial before the FCT High Court.
In March, the first prosecution witness, a Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) officer, testified that the passport with the name Tali Shani was fake.
Akim Aridegbe, a principal staff officer to the Comptroller-General of the NIS, said the passport was not issued by the NIS.
Despite the passport sharing features of a genuine copy, it has no record in the NIS database, Mr Aridegbe said.
Similarly, the second witness, Bamaiyi Mairiga, a forensic examiner, also testified that the passport was fake.
On Monday, Mr Ozekhome’s lawyer grilled Mr Mairiga during cross-examination and elicited answers from the witness on the technical procedures and the general principles of the probe he conducted into the forgery allegations against the defendants.
The witness maintained that his examination revealed that the Tali Shani passport was fake.
