By Correspondent
Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, one of the nation’s most senior attorneys, is facing three criminal charges from the Federal Government of Nigeria for allegedly forging and using fake documents in relation to a contested property in the United Kingdom.
The accusations are the result of a protracted property battle between the late retired Lieutenant-General Jeremiah Useni’s estate and the London house, which a UK tribunal determined belonged to Useni’s estate.
The ICPC’s inquiry and subsequent criminal prosecution seem to have been partially prompted by the UK tribunal’s ruling, which discovered forged names and fraudulent papers in the property dispute.
The charge sheet, designated FCT/HC/CR/010/2026, was submitted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on January 16, 2026.
Osuobeni Akponimisingha, Head of the ICPC High Profile Prosecution Department, and Ngozi Onwuka, representing the Attorney-General of the Federation, are members of the prosecution team.
The first count accuses Ozekhome of obtaining London House, a property abroad. He reportedly acquired possession of a London home at 79 Randall Avenue, NW2 7SX, according to the prosecution. The property was allegedly transferred to him by a fictitious person named Shani Tali, under circumstances the government claims he was aware were unlawful and against anti-corruption legislation.
Document forgery is the subject of the second count. In order to bolster his claim to the London property, Ozekhome is accused of fabricating a Nigerian passport with the number AO7535463 (supposedly containing Tali’s name) in Abuja. Prosecutors characterize this as creating and utilizing false documents to perpetrate fraud.
The subject of the third count is using or attempting to use the forged passport and other false documents as authentic to support the property ownership claim and deceive a public authority (including during proceedings before the London First-Tier Tribunal [Property Chamber]) when he had reason to suspect that they were not.
There is currently no scheduled trial date. The case is expected to get a lot of legal and public attention because of Ozekhome’s prominence and the transnational nature of the issue.
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