The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, sitting in Maitama, Abuja, has granted constitutional lawyer, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, permission to travel to the United Kingdom for medical treatment for a period of six weeks.
Justice Chizoba Oji granted the request on Thursday following an application filed by Ozekhome, who is standing trial alongside Ponfa Useni, son of the late General Jeremiah Useni, over alleged forgery and impersonation linked to a disputed property in the United Kingdom.
The court ordered the temporary release of Ozekhome’s international passport to enable him undertake the medical trip, which is to commence on July 9 and end on August 20, 2026.
Justice Oji further directed Ozekhome to return the passport to the court on or before August 26, 2026.
The substantive case was subsequently adjourned until September 28, 2026.
Ozekhome and Ponfa Useni were arraigned on February 27 by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation on a 12-count charge bordering on alleged forgery and impersonation.
The prosecution alleged, among other things, that the defendants conspired in 2020 with the late General Jeremiah Useni to make a false Nigerian international passport, No. A07535463, bearing the name Tali Shani.
The alleged passport was said to have been presented as having been issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service and allegedly used to support a claim to a property in the United Kingdom.
The prosecution also alleged that the defendants used the disputed passport and other documents in furtherance of the UK property claim.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
At the resumed proceedings, the prosecution produced the defendants’ international passports in compliance with an earlier order of the court.
The court had on Tuesday directed the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to produce the passports after it emerged that the documents had not been deposited with the court registry as ordered in February as part of the defendants’ bail conditions.
Following the production of the passports, the defendants confirmed that the documents belonged to them.
Justice Oji then asked the prosecuting counsel, C. L. Asonta, whether the prosecution had any objection to Ozekhome’s application for the temporary release of his passport.
Asonta informed the court that the prosecution had no objection to the application but requested that Ozekhome be directed to return the passport within three working days of his return to Nigeria.
In her ruling, Justice Oji held that since the application was not opposed, the court would grant the request.
“Having considered the motion and noting that there is no objection, I hereby grant the request and order the temporary release of the first defendant’s international passport to enable him to undertake his medical trip,” the judge held.
The court then fixed the six-week period for the medical trip from July 9 to August 20 and ordered that the passport be returned on or before August 26.
Ozekhome’s counsel, Ferdinand Orbih, SAN, had earlier moved the application, explaining that his client required the passport to travel to the United Kingdom for medical treatment.
Orbih told the court that the request was supported by a letter from Ozekhome’s doctor in the United Kingdom, indicating that the treatment would require a six-week stay.
He assured the court that Ozekhome would return the passport within the time directed by the court after the medical trip.
The prosecution did not oppose the application.
The development followed the court’s earlier proceedings on Tuesday, when Justice Oji ordered the AGF’s office to produce the defendants’ passports after being informed that the documents were not in the court’s custody despite the bail order made in February.
The prosecution had then informed the court that the passports were with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, prompting the judge to direct that they be produced unfailingly before the ruling on the travel application.
The charges against Ozekhome and Useni arise from a dispute over a North London property linked to the late General Jeremiah Useni, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory during the military regime of late General Sani Abacha.
The prosecution alleged that the late Useni owned the property under the fictitious name, Tali Shani, and that steps taken in relation to the property involved alleged forged documents and impersonation.
Ozekhome was alleged to have sought to claim the property on the basis that it had been transferred to him as a gift for legal services.
The prosecution further alleged that the disputed documents were used to support the claim before a United Kingdom property tribunal.
The defendants have denied the allegations and are standing trial before the FCT High Court.
The matter will continue on September 28, 2026.
