Court Grants Mike Ozekhome Six-Week UK Medical Trip, Adjourns Forgery Trial to September
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday permitted senior lawyer Mike Ozekhome to travel to the United Kingdom for a six-week medical trip, temporarily releasing his international passport despite the ongoing forgery and impersonation trial against him.
Justice Chizoba Oji approved the application after the prosecution, represented by C.L. Asonta from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), informed the court that it had no objection to the request.
The court, however, directed Ozekhome to return his international passport on or before 26 August 2026, following the conclusion of his medical trip scheduled to run from 9 July to 20 August.
Justice Oji also adjourned the criminal trial until 28 September for continuation of proceedings.
The ruling followed an unusual development earlier this week when the court discovered that the prosecution had failed to deposit the defendants’ international passports with the court as required under the bail conditions imposed in February.
The judge had ordered the prosecution to produce the passports on Thursday, a directive with which the AGF’s office complied.
After both defendants confirmed ownership of the passports, the prosecution stated it had no objection to Ozekhome’s application but urged the court to direct him to surrender the travel document within three working days of his return.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Oji said: “Having considered the motion and no objection, I hereby grant the request and temporary release of the first defendant’s international passport to enable him to go for his medical trip.”
Ozekhome and his co-defendant, Ponfa Useni, were arraigned on 27 February on a 12-count charge bordering on forgery and impersonation arising from a disputed ownership claim over a property in the United Kingdom.
Both men pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail in the sum of N10 million each with one surety. As part of the bail conditions, they were ordered to surrender their international passports to the court.
The prosecution alleges that Ozekhome and Useni conspired with the late former FCT Minister, Jeremiah Useni, to create and use forged Nigerian identity documents, including a passport bearing the fictitious name “Tali Shani,” to support a claim over a North London property.
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According to the charges, the forged passport was allegedly used to facilitate ownership claims over the property, while Ozekhome is also accused of using a fabricated irrevocable power of attorney and assisting Ponfa Useni in impersonating Tali Shani.
The criminal case in Nigeria followed a 2025 decision of a London property tribunal, which dismissed Ozekhome’s bid to register the property in his name after finding that documents presented in support of the transfer were forged.
The UK tribunal held that although the late Jeremiah Useni was the property’s actual purchaser in 1993, the ownership structure was built around a false identity.
The tribunal also identified allegedly fraudulent Nigerian identity records, including a passport, National Identification Number (NIN), and Tax Identification Number (TIN), purportedly created with the assistance of corrupt public officials.
Those findings later prompted the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee to suspend Ozekhome’s Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) rank pending disciplinary proceedings.
So far, two prosecution witnesses have testified in the ongoing trial.
A senior official of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Akim Aridegbe, told the court that the passport bearing the name Tali Shani was not issued by the agency and had no record in its database despite resembling a genuine passport.
A forensic document examiner, Bamaiyi Mairiga, also testified that his examination confirmed the passport was fake.
During cross-examination earlier this week, Mairiga maintained his findings despite being questioned extensively by Ozekhome’s defence team on the procedures used in his forensic analysis.
The trial is expected to resume on 28 September after Ozekhome returns from his medical trip.
