The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has initiated steps to recover a controversial property linked the late former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Jeremiah Useni.
The Acting Director, Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management, Fatima Ahmed-Kere, said this in a statement issued on behalf of the CCB Chairman, Abdullahi Bello.
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Ms Ahmed-Kere said it is the first-ever international asset forfeiture involving a high-value property in the United Kingdom.
She described the feat as a major anti-corruption milestone.
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The bureau said the property, located at No. 79 Randall Avenue, Neasden, London NW2 7SX, belonged to the estate of the late Mr Useni.
The property gained public attention last year after a reported scandalous, failed effort by senior lawyer Mike Ozekhome to claim it.
Mr Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, now faces charges in Nigeria over allegations of presenting forged documents, including a Nigerian passport with the name of a fictitious personality, before a London tribunal to secure a transfer of ownership of the property to himself.
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In November last year, CCB obtained an order of the Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze the property on the basis that it was shadily acquired in 1993 by Mr Useni, a retired general, who passed away in France in January 2025.
The bureau said the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, has now ordered the final forfeiture of the property to the federal government.
The bureau described the court’s judgment as a “historic breakthrough that marks a new era in the nation’s asset recovery framework”.
According to CCB, the judgement, which followed forfeiture proceedings it instituted, reinforces the principle that public accountability transcends national boundaries.
Planned London recovery process
The bureau said it had initiated steps to ensure the physical recovery of the asset and the repatriation of its proceeds.
”CCB has formally requested the Attorney-General of the Federation to activate Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) mechanisms between Nigeria and the UK.
“The MLA activation is intended to secure the recognition and enforcement of the Nigerian court order within the UK and vest the property in the appropriate authority.
”The process will also facilitate the lawful disposal of the asset and ensure the repatriation of proceeds to Nigeria, in line with international recovery frameworks.
“The successful forfeiture sends a clear and compelling message that assets acquired through the breach of public trust are no longer safe, even when concealed overseas,” CCB stated.
The Bureau attributed the landmark achievement to its renewed strategic focus on intelligence-led enforcement and global cooperation.
”This landmark case signals a new phase in the bureau’s asset recovery structure in which accountability follows illicit wealth across jurisdictions,” the CCB stated.
Reaffirming its mandate, the bureau pledged to remain resolute in enforcing asset declaration laws and preventing the abuse of public office.
‘No one came forward’
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Federal High Court in Abuja initially issued an order of interim forfeiture for the property in November last year.
In her ruling, the judge, Binta Nyako, directed the publication of the interim order in a newspaper to invite whoever was interested in the property to come forward to prove legitimate acquisition.
But weeks after the 14-day period lapsed, the CCB reported to the judge in January that “no person or entity has come forward to claim the property or establish any legitimate interest.”
CCB stated this in an application filed on 22 December 2025 through its lawyer, Sufyan Ahmad, to seek the final forfeiture of the property.
Mr Ahmed argued that the property sought to be forfeited was reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity under Sections 17 and Section 19 of the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act (POCA), 2022.
The lawyer relied on the affidavit filed in support of the motion, sworn by Raji Rasaq, a CCB investigator.
The forfeiture proceedings, initiated in November 2025 by the CCB via an ex parte application for the freezing of the property, listed the administrators of the estate of the late Mr Useni, a retired general, the executors of his estate, and the property at No. 79, Randall Avenue, Neasden, London NW2 7SX, as respondents.
The affidavit recalled that the court earlier granted “an interim order for the preservation of the property on 28 November 2025 and directed that the order be published, allowing any person or authority, whether corporate or otherwise, to indicate interest and file the necessary process to show why the property should not be forfeited to the Federal Government.”
He, however, submitted that “no person or authority had indicated interest or filed any process” contesting the forfeiture.
Why CCB sought permanent forfeiture
The CCB explained its reason for seeking the final forfeiture in an affidavit it filed in support of its application before the Federal High Court.
CCB investigator Raji Rasaq, said since the publication of the interim forfeiture order issued by the court in November 2025,” no person or entity has come forward to show cause or establish any legitimate interest in the property.”
He further said that the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) of the United Kingdom, in suit REF/2023/0155, delivered a judgement confirming that the late Mr Useni was the true owner of the property, having purchased it under a fictitious name.
According to Mr Rasaq, the judgement also established that the alias used was intended to conceal the identity of the beneficial owner and suppress official documentation.
He added that the deceased acquired the property during his tenure in public office, and the circumstances strongly indicated that the funds used were from unlawful activity.
He said the CCB obtained the remuneration package for political, public, and judicial officers from the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the government agency responsible for determining such salaries, to conduct a net worth analysis of the deceased while in service.
He also disclosed that a net worth analysis conducted by the Financial Investigation and Forensic Accounting Unit (FIFAU) of the CCB, using the salary scale provided by the RMAFC, found that the deceased’s declared income at the time was grossly insufficient to account for the acquisition of the property.
“There is a substantial unexplained funds gap, indicating that the funds used for the acquisition must have come from other, undisclosed, or undeclared sources.
This gap constitutes a strong circumstantial indicator of potential fraud, unreported income, or illicit accumulation of wealth. Accordingly, the means of acquisition of the London property constitutes proceeds of unlawful activity,” he stated.
Mr Rasaq also noted that his office reviewed the deceased’s asset declaration forms, in which he declared ownership of the property, even though it was purchased under a fictitious name.
“The said form is already annexed as Exhibit B in the earlier application,” he said.
He concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe the property constituted the proceeds of unlawful activity, as indicated by the FIFAU analysis, and that it would be in the overriding interest of justice for the court to grant a final forfeiture order in favour of the federal government.
Ozekhome, Useni’s son face trial
In February, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) re-arraigned Mr Ozekhome and Mr Useni’s son, Ponfa Useni, regarding their roles in London property scandal.
The defendants were re-arraigned on 12 charges of forgery and impersonation before the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja.
The re-arraignment followed an amendment of the charges initially filed against Mr Ozekhome as the sole defendant.
The amendment introduced Ponfa as the second defendant.
The re-arraignment came just days after the AGF office withdrew the original case of three counts and subsequently, within hours, refiled an amended version of the case with 12 counts.
The prosecution accused them of forgery of documents including a passport and an irrevocable power of attorney to lay claim to a property in London.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges, following which the court granted them bail at N10 million bond each.
According to the amended charges, Messrs Ozekhome and Ponfa Useni conspired in 2020 alongside the late Jeremiah Useni, a retired general who served as the FCT minister during the regime of Nigeria’s late dictator, Sani Abacha, and made “a false Nigerian International Passport No. A07535463 with the name Tali Shani, and purported same to have been issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service” to claim a property in the United Kingdom.
Similarly, the prosecution charged Mr Ozekhome and Ponfa Useni of “using the false passport to facilitate the claim of the property.
According to the prosecution, the document was obtained when Ponfa Useni allegedly falsely “personated Tani Shani, a fictitious person and with such assumed character made a Power of Attorney.”
The prosecution also alleged that Mr Ozekhome helped Ponfa Useni to impersonate Tali Shani in 2020. Together, they allegedly created a fake “Irrevocable Power of Attorney” to help Mr Ozekhome claim the property.
They also allegedly received £18,000 as rent for the property contrary to section 319A of the Penal Code Law, 2009.
The prosecution also accused of making a false document titled: RE: REQUEST FOR AUTHENTICATION OF NIGERIAN PASSPORT NO. A07535463 BELONGING TO MR. TALI SHANI dated 4 May 2023, to claim the property.
The prosecution said the offences contravened and punishments stipulated under various provisions of the Penal Code Law including sections 83, 84, 96, 179, 363, 364 and 366.
(NAN)
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