The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has detained Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, over his alleged involvement in a disputed property case in the United Kingdom popularly referred to as the “Tali Shani” affair.
Ozekhome was reportedly arrested shortly after a Federal Capital Territory High Court struck out a forgery charge earlier filed against him. He is expected to be arraigned in court.
The controversy centres on a property located at 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX. The dispute was instituted at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Land Registration in the United Kingdom under case number REF/2023/0155, with Tali Shani listed as the applicant and Ozekhome as the respondent.
The property was claimed by a person identified as “Ms Tali Shani” on one hand and by Ozekhome on the other. Ozekhome maintained that he received the property as a gift from “Mr Tali Shani” in 2021. However, representatives of “Ms Shani” insisted she was the lawful owner.
A witness identified as “Mr Tali Shani” testified in support of Ozekhome, claiming he held powers of attorney over the property and had transferred it accordingly. He asserted ownership dating back to 1993 and stated that he later appointed the late retired Lieutenant-General Jeremiah Useni as his property manager.
Conversely, documents tendered by witnesses for “Ms Tali Shani”, including an obituary notice, national identity card, ECOWAS passport and other identification materials, were presented to substantiate her claim. The tribunal ultimately found the documents relied upon to be false and dismissed the claims, ruling that neither “Mr” nor “Ms” Tali Shani existed.
In a separate but related development, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission had earlier filed a three-count charge before the FCT High Court accusing Ozekhome of knowingly presenting forged documents, including a Nigerian international passport, to support his ownership claim during proceedings before the UK tribunal.
The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation subsequently took over the case and later applied to withdraw the charge to enable a review and consolidation of issues involving multiple investigating agencies. The court struck out the charge.
However, the federal government has now filed a fresh 12-count charge against Ozekhome before the FCT High Court in Abuja, alleging, among other offences, the use of a false Nigerian international passport bearing the name Tali Shani to facilitate a claim over the London property.
According to the charge sheet, it is alleged that between 2020 and 2021, Ozekhome, Ponfa Useni (also known as Tali Shani), and the late Jeremiah Useni made a false Nigerian international passport and purported it to have been issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service with intent to use it in support of a property claim in the United Kingdom.
The charges include conspiracy, forgery, personation, abetment, and cheating by personation under relevant provisions of the Penal Code Law 2009.
The matter is expected to proceed before the FCT High Court.
