The federal government has filed a 12-count charge against prominent human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, in connection with an alleged forgery scheme tied to a disputed London property.
The charges, brought before the FCT High Court in Abuja, also implicate Ponfa Useni — also known as Tali Shani — as a co-defendant. The Federal Ministry of Justice alleges that both defendants forged a Nigerian passport and other supporting documents to advance a fraudulent claim over a property at 79 Randall Avenue, London.
The late Jeremiah Useni, a former FCT minister, features prominently in several counts as an alleged co-conspirator. Prosecutors claim that in 2020, the defendants conspired in Abuja to procure a false Nigerian passport bearing the name “Tali Shani” — described as a fictitious identity — purportedly issued by the Nigerian Immigration Service, in order to facilitate the property claim.
The defendants are further accused of forging the passport between May 2020 and 2021 and subsequently presenting it as genuine. Jeremiah Useni is alleged to have falsely assumed the “Tali Shani” identity and used it to execute an irrevocable Power of Attorney linked to the London property.
Ozekhome’s role, according to prosecutors, involved jointly executing that same Power of Attorney on May 30, 2020, thereby allegedly aiding the impersonation. The government also claims the senior advocate had control over the London property — suspected to have been unlawfully acquired — along with £18,000 believed to represent rent proceeds from it.
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