All is set for the Federal Government to take over the controversial London house belonging to a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, the late Gen. Jeremiah Useni.
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Neither Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN (who purportedly said he was gifted the property) nor any of the administrators of Useni’s estate appeared before the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, within the 14-day window to claim the house.
The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), on November 28 last year, secured an interim forfeiture order of the house to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The court will decide on the permanent forfeiture of the property on Tuesday.
The depositions before the court exposed the dirty deals behind the purchase and management of the property.
The Federal Government said it was out to seize the property because it was bought with looted public funds by a former minister.
The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) filed an ex parte application pursuant to Order 26(B), Rules 6 and 7 of the Federal High Court.
The Bureau listed the defendants as the Administrators of the Estate of late Gen. Jeremiah Useni; the Executors of the Estate of late Gen. Jeremiah Useni; and the property at No. 79 Randall Avenue, Neasden, London NW2 7SX.
The CCB asked the court to invoke a preservation order of property suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity under Sections 4, 9 and 67 of the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act 2022; Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended); Article 55(1)(b) of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption; and under the inherent jurisdiction of the court.
It asked for the following reliefs:
● A preservation order of the property of the deceased respondent at No. 79 Randall Avenue, Neasden, London NW2 7SX, restraining any person from dealing in any manner with the property, subject to the conditions and exceptions as may be specified in this order.
● An order of this Honourable Court directing the publication of the preservation order in any widely circulating national newspaper, inviting any person(s) or body(ies) who may have interest in any part or all of the property mentioned above to show cause, within 14 days of such publication, why a final forfeiture order of the said property shall not be made in favour of the Federal Government.
● An order that the applicant shall take possession of the property from any person in possession of the property on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria and may appoint a receiver to do so.
Having listened to CCB counsel, Sufyan Ibrahim Ahmad and Danjuma Fatima Ali, the presiding judge, Justice Binta Nyako, granted all the prayers.
She ordered: “Any person(s) or body(ies) who may have an interest in any part or all of the property shall show cause within 14 days why a final forfeiture order of the said property shall not be made in favour of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“That the applicant shall take possession of the property from any person in possession of the property on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria and may appoint a receiver to do so.”
Although the court adjourned the matter to December 11, 2025, no person or body has shown interest as of yesterday.
The court will determine the final forfeiture on Tuesday.
The latest on the property was the filing of a three-count charge of felony and forgery against Ozekhome, who claimed the house was a gift from Useni to defray the cost of election petitions and legal advice.
In an affidavit by Raji Babatunde, an investigator with the Code of Conduct Bureau, details of what transpired over the London property were disclosed on oath to the court.
He said:
“That I know as a fact that on September 11, 2025, a First-Tier Land Registry Tribunal, in a case between Tali Shani and Chief Mike Abu Ezekhome, delivered judgment in respect of the ownership of a property at No. 79 Randall Avenue, Neasden, London NW2 7SX.
“That the property at No. 79 Randall Avenue, London, was bought under the name Tali Shani, who the First-Tier Land Registry Tribunal in the United Kingdom later found to be nonexistent.
“That in the course of the aforementioned trial, the deceased Gen. Jeremiah Useni testified orally via video link as the true owner of the said property, even though it was purchased under a fictitious name.
“That he bought the property in 1993 and made a cash payment, not a mortgage, and the judgment of the tribunal established same.
“That the British judge held that the late Gen. Useni made the purchase under a false alias in order to avoid official records.
“That the property has been the subject of litigation, with several people claiming ownership, including a woman purported to be Tali Shani, whose name the general used as an alias to purchase the property.
“That the court found all their testimonies to be false and their evidence unsubstantiated, and held that the property belongs to Gen. Useni.
“That the deceased was a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory under the administration of late Gen. Sani Abacha at the time he made the purchase and later a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria between 2015 and 2019.
“That I know for a fact that the deceased declared the said London property in his asset declaration forms with the Code of Conduct Bureau, even though it was purchased under a false name.
“That there is a need to grant an order of preservation against the said property acquired with proceeds reasonably suspected to have been derived from unlawful activities of the deceased.
“That this order sought is interim, and nobody will be prejudiced by its grant.”
In a written address presented to the court, the CCB, through its counsel, gave reasons why the Federal Government was out to take over the property.
The counsel said:
“A judgment of a First-Tier Property Tribunal has shown that there is probable cause that tainted money, suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity, was used in obtaining the property.
“We humbly submit that, considering the facts and circumstances of this matter as can be gleaned from the accompanying affidavit and annexures, the applicant has made out a case for the grant of the preservation order sought.
“My Lord, we humbly submit with respect that an application of this nature is designed to prevent the dissipation of assets reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds derived from unlawful activities or which are the subject of investigation and possible prosecution, and is intended to preserve the res.
“My Lord, we also submit that this application is a step in non-conviction-based recovery of assets proceedings. It is also a necessary step in prosecution and procedures involving recovery of proceeds of crime. See 7-Up Bottling Co. Ltd v. Abiola & Sons Ltd (1995) 3 NWLR (Pt. 383) 357 at 280–281.
“Additionally, an action of this nature does not require conviction before an order to preserve and subsequent final forfeiture is granted by the courts. It is merely to recover and deny the perpetrator the enjoyment of the proceeds of unlawful activity while helping the state replenish what has been stolen. See Dame Patience Ibifaka Jonathan v. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2019) LPELR-46944 (SC).
“My Lord, we equally place high reliance on the provisions of Sections 9(1)(2)(3)(7) & (8), read together with Sections 15 and 67(1) & (3) of the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, 2022, which empower this Honourable Court to grant this application.
“My Lord, in the instant case, it must be pointed out that the property in question is shown to belong to the late Gen. Useni and is suspected to have been acquired through unlawful activities or proceeds of crime, for which no person, including the late general himself, was able to show that it was acquired from legitimate funds.
“In the circumstances, therefore, in the interest of justice, the most appropriate and fair thing to do is for the court to order the preservation of the property to prevent any person from dealing with it and the subsequent final forfeiture of same to Nigeria, and this Honourable Court is clothed with full statutory and inherent jurisdiction to grant the orders sought.
“My Lord, it is a matter of public record that Gen. Jeremiah Useni was at one time the second most senior army officer in Nigeria under the rule of Gen. Sani Abacha from 1993 to 1998, and at other times held different political offices within the country.
“Flowing from the above, it is worth noting that the late general had corruption cases across Nigeria’s borders and demonstrated a pattern of deception by hiding stolen funds under false names. In the 2002 case of Attorney General v. Jeremiah Useni & Anor. (2022) JRC 230 (19 May 2022), the Jersey Royal Court made a forfeiture order under the Anti-Money Laundering law of Jersey in relation to £1.9 million, which the court held to be tainted property and proceeds of unlawful conduct arising from his activities in office as a prominent public figure in Nigeria.
“My Lord, the pattern adopted by the late general in acquiring 79 Randall Avenue, London, under a false name has placed the property under legal uncertainty. The court in Jersey already dismissed his justification for employing such aliases, holding that the use of false names was intended to conceal the true ownership of properties likely acquired with proceeds of unlawful activity.
“Similarly, in another grand corruption case in the United Kingdom, Gen. Useni again demonstrated corrupt tendencies and deception by purchasing property under false aliases, a layered disguise designed to keep his name off official records.
“The evidence was so overwhelming that the British judge in a First-Tier Tribunal Property Chamber, in the case of Tali Shani v. Chief Mike Agbedor Abu Ezekhome (REF/2023/0155), held at paragraph 214, page 48 of the judgment that: ‘The final outcome of this case therefore is that both parties have failed. Neither Tali Shani was who they said they were, nor was the person who purchased the property in 1993. The real owner, via a false name, was Gen. Jeremiah Useni.’
“Consequent upon the foregoing, even though the property suspected to be proceeds of crime is not within Nigeria, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), of which both Nigeria and the United Kingdom are long-standing signatories, clearly provides for international cooperation on detection, confiscation and return of proceeds of crime to their legitimate owners.”
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