NBA to FG: Your silence on Mike Ozekhome’s UK property case ‘damaging’
By Babajide Adekunle
The Nigerian Bar Association’s anti-corruption committee says the federal government’s silence on senior advocate, Mike Ozekhome’s involvement in a property dispute in the United Kingdom is “damaging and deafening”.
TheCornet reports that Ozekhome was a litigant in the dispute over the London property located at 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX. The real alleged owner of the property was the former minister of the federal capital territory and, later, Senator Jeremiah Useni.
A UK tribunal, which sat on the matter, found that Ozekhome presented a false person, Thai Sani, as the legal beneficiary of the property, who transferred ownership to him through a deed of gift. The tribunal also declared that vital documents submitted by Ozekhome such as obituary announcement, NIN card, ECOWAS passport were fake.
In its statement, the NBA committee, led by Babafemi Badejo, said the “absence of tangible process and credible interim updates” on the government probe of the case “contravenes the principles of transparency and accountability”.
Badejo said, “In 2025, there was the Tali Shani v. Chief Mike Agbedor Ozekhome case that was decided outside our legal jurisdiction but threw problems in Nigeria, including forgery, identity manipulation that trivializes the relevance of our national identity data system, etc.
“While the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation’s initial announcement of a probe was a necessary first step, the ensuing silence is deafening and damaging.
“The absence of tangible progress, credible interim updates, or a definitive timeline for resolution contravenes the principles of transparency and accountability that underpin Nigeria’s obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).
“Specifically, it undermines Articles 10, 13, and 33 of UNCAC, which mandate public sector transparency, active civil society participation, and the protection of reporting persons.”
