Fresh revelations have surfaced indicating that a crucial document submitted by renowned Nigerian lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), before a London tribunal was fraudulent.
The document—a Nigerian passport used to support Ozekhome’s claim of ownership over a North London property—has now been disowned by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), a development that has led to criminal charges against the senior advocate in Nigeria.
Although the UK First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) had earlier accepted the passport as authentic due to the absence of contradictory evidence, Nigerian authorities have since confirmed that it was not legitimately issued.
According to Premium Times, the NIS disclosed in a letter to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) that passport booklet number A07535463 was defective, reported stolen, and never personalised.
“The said booklet was reported stolen and was never personalised. Consequently, it does not exist in the Service’s Electronic Management System, and no Certified True Copy is available,” the NIS stated.
The agency further revealed that personal data had been unlawfully superimposed on the booklet and that several inconsistencies pointed to serious irregularities.
In September 2025, Judge Ewan Paton had admitted the passport as valid evidence during the London proceedings. At the time, the judge noted that testimony had been given by a man identified as Tali Shani, alongside a certified copy of a Nigerian passport.
“I do not have the evidence, or any sufficient basis, to find that this document is forged,” Judge Paton ruled then.
However, subsequent investigations by Nigerian authorities have now established that the passport was fraudulent.
Relying on the NIS findings, the ICPC filed a three-count criminal charge against Ozekhome at the Federal High Court in Abuja on January 16.
The charges include allegations that Ozekhome:
- Corruptly received House 79, Randall Avenue, London, in August 2021;
- Forged a Nigerian passport bearing the name Shani Tali;
- Knowingly used the forged passport as genuine to support his ownership claim.
The prosecution is being led by Ngozi Onwuka of the ICPC’s High Profile Prosecution Department.
The dispute dates back to August 2021 when Ozekhome sought to transfer ownership of the Neasden property into his name, claiming it was gifted to him by Tali Shani in appreciation for legal services rendered.
Ozekhome told the tribunal he met Shani in January 2019 and later provided advisory and court-related services, after which the property was transferred to him as a “gratuitous” gift. He maintained that the value of his services exceeded any financial consideration.
He, however, declined to submit records of the alleged legal services, citing client confidentiality.
The claim was challenged in September 2022 by lawyers representing Ms Tali Shani, who asserted that she had been the registered owner of the property since 1993 and never authorised any transfer.
The case also implicated the late retired General Jeremiah Useni, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory under the Abacha regime. Before his death in January 2025, Useni testified via video link that he purchased the property in 1993.
“I owned it. I bought the property. It is my property,” he told the tribunal.
Court records showed that although the property was registered under the name Tali Shani, General Useni could not convincingly explain the identity’s connection to the purchase.
The tribunal ultimately found that the property was acquired in 1993 under a false identity, Philips Bincan, and dismissed Ozekhome’s narrative as a “contrived story.”
Judge Paton ruled that Shani had no valid title to transfer the property and held that ownership would rest with whoever obtains probate over General Useni’s estate in England.