NBA Committee Welcomes Probe Into Ozekhome’s Link To Property Controversy In UK

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Anti-Corruption Committee has thrown its weight behind the decision of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to launch a probe into what it described as a “messy property controversy” involving Chief Mike Agbedor Abu Ozekhome, SAN, in the United Kingdom.

According to a statement, the development stemmed from a decision by Judge Ewan Paton in the First-Tier Tribunal Property Chamber Land Registration of the UK in case number REF/2023/0155: Tali Shani (Applicant) v. Chief Mike Agbedor Abu Ozekhome (Respondent), over property at 79 Randall Avenue, London.

The statement signed by committee chairman, Prof. Babafemi A. Badejo, said the NBA Anti-Corruption Committee emphasised that the matter “raises several improprieties that require investigations on the authenticity of the judgment that is widely in circulation, as well as an investigation of the actions of the Legal Practitioners before the Supreme Court of Nigeria who were mentioned in the said proceedings.”

The statement, dated October 2, 2025, and copied to NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN), and other principal officers of the Association, further expressed hope that any implicated legal practitioners would be “promptly” referred to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC).

According to the statement, investigations must extend to “the alleged procurement of fake NIN, fraudulent presentation of an MTN number, fake ECOWAS passport, etc., all aimed at the failed creations of fake male and female persons claiming to be Tali Shani.”

It warned that such fraudulent actions, reportedly involving collusion between lawyers and civil servants, “should lead to the criminal prosecutions of many civil servants who connived with lawyers to tarnish the name of Nigeria.”

The press statement recalled that the Royal Court of Jersey had in 2022 decided on a £1.9 million case involving the Attorney-General v. Useni, where “Judge Paton had concluded that the late Lt. General Jeremiah Useni acquired the disputed property under questionable circumstances using a name strikingly similar to that in the current case.”

“On the basis of the said decision in the UK, we call on the Attorney-General of the Federation to enter Nigeria’s interest in the said property towards the possibility of restitution,” the NBA Anti-Corruption Committee stated.

The Committee cautioned that Nigeria cannot afford a repeat of high-profile cases that were quietly abandoned in the past. “The credibility and sustainability of the legal sector in Nigeria is at stake,” it declared.

In its recommendations, the NBA Anti-Corruption Committee urged the Attorney-General of the Federation to include Dr. George Ekpungu, Alternate Chairman of the national NBA Anti-Corruption Committee, and Mr. Bayo Akinlade, chairman of Ikorodu Branch, in the ongoing investigations.