Nigeria’s anti corruption agency has filed criminal charges against Chief Mike Ozekhome over a disputed house in North London.
The case is tied to a property at 79 Randall Avenue in Neasden, an area of London in the United Kingdom.
At the centre of the dispute is a Nigerian passport used to support an ownership claim.
Nigeria’s passport agency now says that document was not legitimately issued.
Immigration Service Says Booklet Was Not Used
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria’s federal agency in charge of passports and border control, wrote to investigators about the passport.
It told the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Nigeria’s anti corruption agency, that booklet number A07535463 was never properly issued.
The NIS said the booklet had a defect and was not used for any applicant.
It said, “The said booklet was reported stolen and was never personalised.”
As a result, the NIS said there is no holder record in its database.
It also said there is no Certified True Copy (CTC) on its system.
British Tribunal Previously Treated It As Genuine
Earlier, a United Kingdom tribunal accepted the passport during a property dispute hearing.
Judge Ewan Paton of the First tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) said he had no firm basis at the time to reject it.
He also noted that someone using the name Tali Shani existed and testified.
However, the NIS position now casts doubt on that passport evidence.
Charges Filed In Abuja Court
Following the NIS findings, the ICPC filed charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The filing was made on Friday, 16 January 2026.
Court documents say Chief Mike Ozekhome faces three counts.
The allegations involve receiving property through corrupt means and using forged documents.
The Three Allegations Summarised
The first count says that in August 2021 he received House 79 Randall Avenue, London.
It says the house was presented as a gift from a person identified as Shani Tali.
The ICPC says the act breaches Nigeria’s Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
The second count accuses him of making a false Nigerian passport.
That passport carried number A07535463 and the name Shani Tali.
The third count alleges he used the passport as genuine, despite reasons to believe it was false.
The Dispute That Sparked The Case
The controversy began in August 2021 when Chief Mike Ozekhome applied to transfer the house into his name.
He told the Land Registry in England and Wales that the house was a gift.
He said it was given to him for legal services.
However, he also said he only met Shani Tali in January 2019.
He said he had no direct knowledge of how the property was bought or managed earlier.
Claims About Legal Services And Money
Chief Mike Ozekhome said he offered several legal services, including advice and court appearances.
He described Shani Tali as a wealthy farmer and businessman.
He said the man operated in cattle, groundnuts, mangoes, and real estate.
He also said Shani Tali later treated him like a father figure.
However, he did not provide proof of the work and cited client confidentiality.
He also denied paying £500,000 mentioned in statements linked to Shani Tali.
He insisted the transfer was a free gift, not a sale.
Passport Details In The Ownership Claim
To meet Land Registry checks, an English solicitor certified the passport as a Certified True Copy (CTC).
The passport described Shani Tali as male and born in Plateau State, a state in central Nigeria.
It gave the birth date as Monday, 2 April 1973.
That would make him 20 years old when the title was registered.
No birth certificate was provided in the dispute.
A Rival Claim From “Ms Tali Shani”
In September 2022, Westfields Solicitors challenged the transfer application.
The firm said it represented a woman described as “Ms Tali Shani.”
She said she had owned the property since 1993.
She said she never signed a transfer and was upset by the application.
Jeremiah Useni’s Conflicting Evidence
A key figure in the case was Jeremiah Useni.
Useni was a retired Nigerian army general and a former minister in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Shani Tali claimed he appointed Useni as his agent and manager for the house.
He also described Useni as a close friend and business partner.
However, Useni later told the tribunal a different story.
In 2024, he testified by video and said, “I owned it. I bought the property. It is my property.”
When asked what Tali Shani had to do with the house, he answered, “Nothing.”
Tribunal Verdict On The 1993 Purchase
The tribunal said the case involved fraud, impersonation, and forged documents.
Still, it concluded that Useni was the true purchaser of the property in 1993.
Judge Ewan Paton said the house was secretly bought in 1993 using a false identity.
The tribunal said documents showed the purchase used the name “Philips Bincan.”
It also pointed to a separate 2022 case in the Royal Court of Jersey, a court in Jersey, a Crown Dependency of the British Crown.
That case referenced coded names like “Tim Shani” linked to alleged efforts to conceal wealth.
What Happens Next
The tribunal rejected the view that Tali Shani bought the house in 1993.
So, it ruled he had no legal title to transfer to Chief Mike Ozekhome in 2021.
The tribunal said ownership now depends on who secures probate over Useni’s English estate.
Probate is the legal process for handling assets after death.
Useni died in France in January 2025.