The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Anti-Corruption Committee has expressed its readiness to cooperate with the Lawyer-Normal of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, in a probe of a property controversy in the UK involving senior lawyer Mike Ozekhome and different Nigerians.
The committee stated the case raised a number of “improper crucial points that require investigations on the authenticity of the judgment that’s extensively in circulation.”
It additionally referred to as for scrutiny of the actions of authorized practitioners on the position of the Supreme Courtroom of Nigeria talked about within the proceedings.
On 11 September, English property tribunal decide Ewan Paton blocked Mr Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), from taking possession of a home in North London. The decide dominated that Mr Ozekhome’s defence, supported by his son, was a “contrived story… invented to offer a believable purpose” for the 2021 switch. He additionally struck out his adversary’s claims as an abuse of judicial course of.
Talking on the ceremony marking the start of the Supreme Courtroom’s 2025/2026 authorized yr and the conferment of SAN on 57 legal professionals on Monday, Mr Fagbemi, additionally SAN, stated the London case had important adverse implications for the Nigerian authorized sector.
He introduced {that a} probe had been launched and appealed for “the cooperation of the NBA and the Physique of Senior Advocates” to confirm the authenticity of the complaints and refer erring practitioners to the required disciplinary our bodies.
The NBA Anti-Corruption Committee welcomed the AGF’s announcement in an announcement dated 2 October and signed by its chairperson, Babafemi Badejo, and different executives.
The assertion was copied to the NBA executives, together with its president, Afam Osigwe, a SAN, different NBA executives, and Mr Ozekhome.
“Investigations into the processes that resulted within the alleged procurement of pretend NIN, fraudulent presentation of an MTN quantity, faux ECOWAS passport, and so on., all aimed on the failed creation of pretend female and male individuals claiming to be Tali Shani, ought to result in the prison prosecution of civil servants who connived with legal professionals to tarnish the identify of Nigeria,” the assertion reads.
It additionally urged the AGF to enter Nigeria’s curiosity within the property for potential restitution.
The committee famous that many high-profile instances had been swept underneath the rug as soon as media consideration pale and “hoped that such wouldn’t be the case this time, because the credibility and sustainability of the authorized sector in Nigeria are at stake.”
It additionally stated it “hopes that after investigations, the related authorized practitioners could be promptly referred to the Authorized Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC).”
Due to this fact, the Anti-corruption workforce beneficial that George Ekpungu, Alternate Chairman of the NBA Anti-Corruption Committee, and Bayo Akinlade, Chairman of the Ikorodu Department NBA Anti-Corruption Committee, be included within the AGF’s investigations.
The case
Within the case REF/2023/0155, Tali Shani was the applicant whereas Mr Ozekhome was the respondent over a property at 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX.
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The decide, Mr Paton, guidelines that the UK First-Tier Tribunal Property Chamber Land Registration case was constructed on “a community of fraud, impersonation, and cast paperwork.”
He discovered that Mr Ozekhome’s defence, supported by his son, was “a contrived story… invented in an try to offer a believable purpose” for the 2021 property switch. Whereas blocking Mr Ozekhome, the decide additionally struck out the adversary’s claims as an abuse of judicial course of.
Decide Paton concluded that the late Lt. Normal Jeremiah Useni had acquired the property by questionable means, utilizing a reputation just like the one within the £1.9 million case determined on the Royal Courtroom of Jersey in Lawyer-Normal v. Useni in 2022.
