Reactions have continued to trail the London tribunal ruling which blocked Mike Ozekhome from making an audacious move over a North London house belonging to fomer Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), late Jeremiah Useni.
The judgment, delivered on 11 September by Judge Ewan Paton of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), brings to an end nearly four years of extraordinary courtroom drama, marked by allegations of forgery, impersonation, phantom identities, and conflicting testimonies.
In August 2021, Mr Ozekhome applied to transfer the property at 79 Randall Avenue, Neasden, to his name. He claimed it was a gift from a man who presented himself as Mr Tali Shani, said to be the property’s owner, in appreciation for legal services.
However, in September 2022, Westfields Solicitors challenged the application, claiming to represent “Ms Tali Shani,” who insisted she had been the registered owner of the property since 1993.
She claimed that she had never signed any transfer and was “outraged” by Mr Ozekhome’s application.
Nigerian authorities, including the Police and National Identity Management, denied the existence of some of the documents presented in court, including the NIN and the woman’s.
LEADERSHIP visit to Agbonmagbe Olumide Memorial Specialist Hospital in Jibowu, Yaba, Lagos, revealed no records of any patient named Ms Tali Shani or any doctor named Dr Johnson Osa associated with the hospital.
Confirming this to our reporter, the Medical Director, Mr Olusunmade Olumide, stated that the hospital has never employed a doctor by that name or admitted a patient named Ms Tali Shani. He emphasised that there are no records of either at the facility.
A Wild Goose Chase For A House That Doesn’t Seem To Exist
In a frustrating quest to locate House No. 494 on David Iyimoga Close, allegedly linked to the late Ms Tali Shani, our correspondent embarked on a fruitless journey across Abuja, hampered by confusing and contradictory information.
The search began with technology. Logging the address into Google Maps initially yielded no results. Adding “Abuja” to the search redirected the map pin not to a residential close, but to the sprawling Ministry of Finance building in the Central Business District, a clear digital dead end.
Acting on a tip, our reporter drove to the prominent Brains and Hammers Estate in Life Camp, a 20-minute drive from the Central Area to the estate.
Upon arrival, estate officials were unequivocal. “The address does not exist in this estate,” a security guard stated, redirecting our correspondent to a different development, Brains and Hammers City, a further 12-minute drive away.
At Brains and Hammers City, the Chief Security Officer, Mr Jonathan, confirmed the existence of David Iyimoga Close. However, he delivered the final blow to the search: while the street is real, House No. 494 is not here.
“The houses on the street are numbered with alphabets attached to the numbers and names of the street,” he explained, indicating an entirely different addressing system.
In Jos, Plateau State, LEADERSHIP findings revealed no readily available information on a specific location with a general address and number like “No. 10 Commercial Road, Jos.”
Our correspondent, who went around the city centre, observed a street named Bank Road, containing a conglomeration of banks like CBN, First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), and Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN), among others.
It was further learnt that other roads, such as Rukubu, Zaria, Beach, and Rayfield, have various commercial properties and activities.
Others are Ahmadu Bello Way and Terminus Market, the centre of commercial activities in the state capital, but no Commercial Road exists.
Nigerian Doctors Can’t Have Direct Links To Death Certificate Forgery – Medical Experts
Reacting to the UK court case involving the alleged forgery of a death certificate linked to Nigerians, a consultant pathologist at the Lagos State University College of Medicine/Teaching Hospital, Prof. Francis Faduyile, has questioned the authenticity of the fictitious identities used in the case, stressing that the matter may not have direct links with Nigeria.
“The first question I would ask is, where was that fictitious name domiciled? Where was the person said to be living? The identity in question is not a juristic person,” the pathologist explained.
Also, a chief consultant orthopaedic and trauma surgeon, Prof. Mike Ogirima, clarified the proper process of issuing death certificates in hospitals, stressing that only a qualified doctor has the legal authority to certify and issue such documents.
Prof. Ogirima explained that a death certificate can only be issued if a patient dies in a hospital, and it must come from the doctor who attended to the patient before their death or the doctor who officially certified the death.
The body that investigates and prosecutes legal misconduct by lawyers in Nigeria, the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC), has said it can only act on the case of forgery and fake identity involving the late former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Jeremiah Useni and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Chief Mike Ozekhome if it receives a formal petition.
However, considering the embarrassment such a case might cause the country’s image, the LPPC was asked if it could investigate the issue.
It said it could not be involved in the judgment of a London Property Tribunal that dismissed Ozekhome’s case in an attempt to register a property allegedly gifted to him.
Justice Ishaq Bello, a former Federal Capital Territory High Court Chief Judge, is the chairman of the LPPC committee but could not be reached for comments.
A source close to the committee told LEADERSHIP that the committee could not get involved in the judgment without a formal complaint.
The Tribunal in London dismissed a case filed by Tali Shani, which challenged the attempt by Chief Ozekhome to register a property allegedly gifted to him.
The Tribunal threw out the case because the applicant likely never existed, and the evidence presented, including identity documents and a death certificate, was forged.
But Chief Ozekhome told our correspondent in a telephone interview that he was never indicted in the judgment in any way.
He said, “I would not like to discuss that judgment, but I hope you know that I was not indicted in any way in the judgment.”
A source said the standard practice for the LPPC to investigate any matter is that there has to be a formal complaint, but that “as we speak, there hasn’t been one.”
The source, though not authorised to speak, said, “The LPPC cannot get involved in this London property judgment now because there hasn’t been any petition to that effect.
“Until there are complaints, we can’t do anything,” he said.
The controversy over the property ownership at 79 Randall Avenue, London, began when Chief Ozekhome applied to register a property transfer dated August 2021 from “Tali Shani,” who purportedly executed the deed.
However, before the process was concluded, the applicant, claiming to be Tali Shani, came forward and denied authorising the transfer.
Following this controversy, the Land Registry referred Chief Ozekhome’s (the Respondent’s) application to register the property transfer to the Tribunal on 27 February 2023.
In his defence, Chief Ozekhome, representing himself after his legal team withdrew, argued that his property acquisition was a legitimate transfer.
He contended that Tali Shani never existed and was a phantom identity created by someone not involved in the proceedings to fraudulently take control of the property.
Chief Ozekhome stated that the property transfer to him was a gift in recognition of legal services provided to the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, General Jeremiah Useni.
He denied any financial transactions related to the property transfer, asserting it was not for monetary gain.
He called the former minister as a witness. In his testimony via video link, the late General Useni stated that he had purchased the property in 1993 with his savings, intending it as a home for his family.
He denied any connection to a “Tali Shani” owning the property, claiming he first met a man by that name only about seven or eight years ago, in a matter unrelated to the property ownership.
After a thorough examination, the Tribunal struck out the applicant’s case based on fraudulent foundations but refused the transfer application to Chief Ozekhome.
The Tribunal held that Tali Shani’s claims regarding the property purchase in 1993 were implausible, stating that Shani claimed to have purchased the property at age 20, but that his financial explanations were unconvincing.
The Tribunal noted that the purchase documents indicated a different name, “Philips Bincan,” and a price of £110,000, contradicting Shani’s claims.
The Tribunal also found that General Useni’s testimony directly contradicted Shani’s assertions about their relationship and property management.
It concluded that the evidence strongly indicated that General Useni was the valid owner of the property, and his oral evidence was consistent and credible despite his frail condition.
In conclusion, the Tribunal held that both parties failed to prove their claims regarding the property.
It stated that neither Tali Shani nor the alleged purchaser was who they claimed to be and that the real owner of the property was General Jeremiah Useni, who is now deceased.
The Tribunal, therefore, directed the Chief Land Registrar to reject the application for the transfer of ownership.
Lawyers in Nigeria, including the Nigerian Bar Association, have declined to comment on the matter.
“We issue death certificates, and there are different types. There is the clinical death certificate, which means no autopsy was conducted, and there is the pathological autopsy, which is based on identifying the real cause of death,” he noted.
“If you have a death certificate bearing a hospital stamp, go and confirm if the doctor is there,” he advised.
Meanwhile, LEADERSHIP gathered that Nigerians often obtain death certificates from the National Population Commission. A source in the commission confirmed to LEADERSHIP that some people even get the certificate for friends who need it for their relations.
