The Nigerian Government has filed new criminal charges against prominent lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mike Ozekhome.
This development has intensified the legal battle surrounding allegations of forgery and fraud related to a disputed property involving the senior legal practitioner in the United Kingdom.
Court documents obtained on Tuesday by news outlets indicate that the government instituted a 12-count charge against Ozekhome before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja.
The government accused him of offenses linked to the alleged use of a forged Nigerian passport during litigation over a property in London.
These new charges emerged shortly after an earlier case against the senior lawyer was dismissed by the same court following the withdrawal of charges previously filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Justice Peter Kekemeke of the FCT High Court dismissed the initial charges after the prosecution formally requested withdrawal, clearing the path for what officials referred to as a restructured prosecution strategy.
The withdrawal was initiated by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), which informed the court that it required time to review and consolidate investigations involving multiple agencies.
Earlier on Tuesday, SaharaReporters reported that Ozekhome was in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and was expected to be re-arraigned based on the new charges.
The controversy arises from a prolonged legal dispute over a property located at 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX, which became the subject of litigation before the United Kingdom’s First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).
Prosecutors alleged that Ozekhome used forged identity documents, including a Nigerian passport purportedly issued in the name of “Tali Shani,” to bolster claims that the property was gifted to him in 2021.
However, in a landmark ruling delivered in September 2025, the UK tribunal dismissed the ownership claims, describing key parties linked to the case as impostors and finding that several documents presented during proceedings were products of forgery or deception.
The tribunal ultimately determined that the property belonged to the estate of the late General Jeremiah Useni, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, concluding that the name “Tali Shani” had been used as a false identity to obscure ownership of offshore assets.
