AfriPulse
A letter allegedly submitted by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, to a London tribunal in a bid to claim ownership of a property in North London has been found to be fabricated.
The letter was purportedly issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to authenticate a passport belonging to a man identified as Tali Shani, whose identity formed part of the evidence used in the property dispute.
However, the Nigerian government has since confirmed that the passport never legitimately existed, while immigration authorities also disowned the letter presented to the UK tribunal.
The document submitted by Ozekhome was allegedly signed by Abdulkadir Lawal, described as an Assistant Legal Adviser of the NIS, writing on behalf of the Comptroller-General of Immigration.
It purportedly confirmed the authenticity of a Nigerian passport in the name of Tali Shani and attached what appeared to be a certified biodata page.
But in a response obtained by Premium Times , the NIS denied the authenticity of the letter, stating that no such officer exists within its legal department.
“Following a thorough check of the Service’s personnel records and the Directorate of Legal Services, the Nigeria Immigration Service has no record of any officer bearing the name Abdulkadir Lawan serving as an Assistant Legal Adviser or in any legal capacity within the Service,” the agency said.
The service further stated that it does not recognise the document or its purported author, describing the letter as invalid and unauthorised.
Beyond the disputed letter, the immigration service also confirmed that the passport at the centre of the case – booklet number A07535463 – was never legitimately issued.
According to the agency, the passport booklet had been reported stolen and was never personalised, meaning there is no official record of any holder in its electronic database.
Investigators also found that personal data had been unlawfully superimposed on the document, with multiple inconsistencies detected on its biodata page.
The controversy centres on a property located at 79 Randall Avenue in North London.
In August 2021, Ozekhome reportedly applied to the UK Land Registry to transfer ownership of the property to himself, claiming it had been gifted to him by a man identifying as Tali Shani in appreciation for legal services rendered.
However, the application was challenged in September 2022 by Westfields Solicitors, who claimed to represent a Ms. Tali Shani, alleged to have been the registered owner since 1993.
The claimant denied ever signing a transfer of the property.
In September 2025, Judge Ewan Paton of the UK First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) ruled against the transfer of the property.
The tribunal determined that the house had actually been covertly purchased in 1993 by the late Nigerian military officer and former FCT minister, Jeremiah Useni, using a false identity.
The court found that the property had been acquired under the name “Philips Bincan,” a method consistent with earlier findings by the Royal Court of Jersey that linked Useni to multiple coded identities used to conceal assets.
During testimony given via video link in 2024, Useni told the court plainly: “I owned it. I bought the property. It is my property.”
Ozekhome told the tribunal that he only met the man presenting himself as Tali Shani in 2019, more than two decades after the property was purchased.
He claimed that after providing legal services to the man, the property was transferred to him in 2021 as a gesture of appreciation.
However, the tribunal rejected the explanation, describing it as a “contrived story” created to justify the transfer.
The court ruled that since the individual identified as Shani had no legal ownership of the property, he could not legally transfer it to Ozekhome.
Ownership of the property, the tribunal said, now rests with whoever secures probate over Useni’s estate in England.
Meanwhile, Nigerian anti-corruption agencies have also taken legal action over the matter.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) filed three criminal charges against Ozekhome at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The charges include allegedly receiving the property through a fraudulent transaction, creating a false Nigerian passport in the name of Tali Shani, and using the forged document to support the property claim.
Separately, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Ozekhome and a co-defendant, Ponfa Useni, before the FCT High Court in Maitama on 12 counts of forgery and impersonation.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty and were granted bail of ₦10 million each.
In November last year, the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) secured an interim forfeiture order from the Federal High Court in Abuja over the London property.
Justice Binta Nyako directed that a public notice be issued inviting any legitimate claimant to the property to come forward.
According to the CCB, no individual or organisation came forward within the 14-day window.
The bureau has since filed an application seeking a final forfeiture order, arguing that the property is reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity under Nigeria’s Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, 2022.
Responding to investigators, Ozekhome said he was aware of the tribunal’s ruling in the United Kingdom.
He maintained that the circumstances surrounding the property transfer had already been explained to the EFCC during its investigation.
According to him, issues regarding the ownership of the property and the identity of Tali Shani were fully addressed in the UK tribunal proceedings.
Source: Naijanews.com | Read the Full Story…
