The Federal Government has filed a three-count criminal charge against constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome, over allegations of forgery and the use of false documents involving a disputed property in the United Kingdom.

The charges, marked FCT/HC/CR/010/2026, were filed before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).

In the charge sheet, the Federal Government accuses the senior lawyer of knowingly presenting forged documents to support his claim of ownership regarding a property located at 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX.

Specifically, the prosecution alleges that Ozekhome forged a Nigerian international passport (Number A07535463) bearing the name Mr. Shani Tali to substantiate his claim before the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in London that the property was gifted to him by the said individual.

Count two of the charge reads:”That you Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN… sometime in August 2021 or thereabout at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, while being a legal practitioner and Senior Advocate of Nigeria did make a false document, to wit: Nigeria passport A07535463 bearing the name of Mr. Shani Tali with intent to use same to support claim of ownership of property known and described as 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX with intent to commit fraud.”

The government contends that these actions violate Section 13 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, punishable under Section 24 of the same Act.

The charges follow a contentious legal battle in the United Kingdom regarding the ownership of the London property.

The dispute at the UK tribunal involved Ozekhome and a competing claimant, Ms. Tali Shani.

Ozekhome had maintained that he received the house as a gift from Mr. Tali Shani in 2021.

However, during the UK proceedings, the tribunal reportedly dismissed the claims, raising serious questions about the existence of the individuals named Tali Shani (both Mr. and Ms.) and the authenticity of the documents tendered, which included the passport now subject to the criminal charge in Abuja.

The prosecution, led by Osuobeni Akponimisingha, the ICPC’s Head of High Profile Prosecution Department, has listed several witnesses for the case, including investigators and officials from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

As of the time of this report, no date has been fixed for the arraignment of the Senior Advocate.