The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Anti-Corruption Committee has expressed its readiness to cooperate with the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, in a probe of a property controversy in the United Kingdom involving senior lawyer Mike Ozekhome and other Nigerians.
The committee said the case raised several “improper critical issues that require investigations on the authenticity of the judgment that is widely in circulation.”
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It also called for scrutiny of the actions of legal practitioners on the role of the Supreme Court of Nigeria mentioned in the proceedings.
On 11 September, English property tribunal judge Ewan Paton blocked Mr Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), from taking ownership of a house in North London. The judge ruled that Mr Ozekhome’s defence, supported by his son, was a “contrived story… invented to provide a plausible reason” for the 2021 transfer. He also struck out his adversary’s claims as an abuse of judicial process.
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Speaking at the ceremony marking the beginning of the Supreme Court’s 2025/2026 legal year and the conferment of SAN on 57 lawyers on Monday, Mr Fagbemi, also SAN, said the London case had significant negative implications for the Nigerian legal sector.
He announced that a probe had been launched and appealed for “the cooperation of the NBA and the Body of Senior Advocates” to verify the authenticity of the complaints and refer erring practitioners to the necessary disciplinary bodies.
The NBA Anti-Corruption Committee welcomed the AGF’s announcement in a statement dated 2 October and signed by its chairperson, Babafemi Badejo, and other executives.
The statement was copied to the NBA executives, including its president, Afam Osigwe, a SAN, other NBA executives, and Mr Ozekhome.
“Investigations into the processes that resulted in the alleged procurement of fake NIN, fraudulent presentation of an MTN number, fake ECOWAS passport, etc., all aimed at the failed creation of fake male and female persons claiming to be Tali Shani, should lead to the criminal prosecution of civil servants who connived with lawyers to tarnish the name of Nigeria,” the statement reads.
It also urged the AGF to enter Nigeria’s interest in the property for possible restitution.
The committee noted that many high-profile cases had been swept under the rug once media attention faded and “hoped that such would not be the case this time, as the credibility and sustainability of the legal sector in Nigeria are at stake.”
It also said it “hopes that after investigations, the relevant legal practitioners would be promptly referred to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC).”
Therefore, the Anti-corruption team recommended that George Ekpungu, Alternate Chairman of the NBA Anti-Corruption Committee, and Bayo Akinlade, Chairman of the Ikorodu Branch NBA Anti-Corruption Committee, be included in the AGF’s investigations.
The case
In the case REF/2023/0155, Tali Shani was the applicant while Mr Ozekhome was the respondent over a property at 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX.
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The judge, Mr Paton, rules that the UK First-Tier Tribunal Property Chamber Land Registration case was built on “a network of fraud, impersonation, and forged documents.”
He found that Mr Ozekhome’s defence, supported by his son, was “a contrived story… invented in an attempt to provide a plausible reason” for the 2021 property transfer. While blocking Mr Ozekhome, the judge also struck out the adversary’s claims as an abuse of judicial process.
Judge Paton concluded that the late Lt. General Jeremiah Useni had acquired the property through questionable means, using a name similar to the one in the £1.9 million case decided at the Royal Court of Jersey in Attorney-General v. Useni in 2022.
