An Abuja High Court yesterday admitted a foremost Constitutional Lawyer, Prof. Mike Ozekhome (SAN) to N10 million bail in an alleged forgery suit filed against him by the Federal Government. The Federal Government had alleged complicity in a web of fraud perpetrated in a bid to claim ownership of a disputed property in the United Kingdom.

The defendant had ear- lier pleaded not guilty to the allegation contained in a 12-count charge that was read to him. He was docked alongside Ponfa Useni, son of late General Jeremiah Useni (Rtd), a former Minister of the FCT who is at the centre of the alleged property fraud. The charge against the defendants borders on forgery and abetment of an offence.

The Federal Government alleged that some- time in 2020, the senior lawyer agreed with Ponfa Useni (aka Tali Shani) and General Jeremiah Useni (now deceased) to commit an illegal act by making a false Nigerian International Passport No. A07535463 with the name Tali Shani.

It was alleged that the defendants claimed the forged passport was issued by the Nigerian Immigration Service “with the intent of using the same to support your claim of a property, lying, being, and situate at No. 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2, United Kingdom, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 96 of the Penal Code Law 2009 and punishable under section 364 of the same Law.”

According to the charge, the 1st defendant (Ozekhome) abetted the commission of an offence of cheating by personation when he jointly executed an irrevocable power of attorney dated May 30, 2020, with one Tali Shani, “a fictitious person,” to facilitate the claim of the UK property, and thereby committed an offence contrary to sections 83, 84, 321 of the Penal Code Law, 2009, and punishable under section 322 of the same Law.

While Count 9 of the charge alleged that he took control of the UK property, which is reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained by General Jeremiah Useni (now deceased) under the fictitious name Tali Shani, he was, in Count 10, alleged to have, within the period, collected the sum of £18,000.00 as rent that accrued from the property.