*Says Tali Shani Passport Was Never Issued By NIS
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A principal staff officer of the Nigeria Immigration Service on Friday told the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory that the agency did not issue a Nigerian passport bearing the name “Tali Shani,” describing the document as fake and non-existent in the agency’s database.
The witness, Aridegbe Akim, testified as the first prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Senior Advocate of Nigeria Chief Mike Ozekhome and Ponfa Useni, son of the late Lieutenant-General Jeremiah Useni, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. The trial is being conducted before Justice Chizoba Oji at the FCT High Court in Maitama.
Led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo SAN, Akim told the court that the Immigration Service received a request from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission asking it to authenticate two passports — one belonging to Ponfa Useni and the other bearing the name Tali Shani with passport number A07535463.
The witness told the court that after checking the NIS database, the agency discovered that the passport belonging to Useni was genuine and had been issued by the Immigration Service. However, the passport bearing the name Tali Shani was not in the system and had never been issued by the NIS.
“The passport was not issued by the Nigerian Immigration Service. It is not in our database. The passport belonging to Tali Shani is fake,” Akim told the court.
He explained the passport issuance process, stating that applications begin with an online payment, after which the applicant’s details are generated on the NIS database. Supporting documents, including the National Identification Number, are then uploaded into the system. He added that Nigerian passports are encrypted in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation standards, enabling border authorities worldwide to access biometric information.
The witness said the NIS system retains detailed records of every applicant and that once a name is inserted, the system produces the full particulars and history of that person. However, when the name Tali Shani was entered, no record was found. He added that there was no record of any payment made for the passport in question.
Akim further testified that the EFCC sent another request to the NIS asking the agency to verify a letter allegedly written by one Abdulkadir Lawal, who claimed to be associated with the Immigration Service.
The witness told the court that after conducting searches across the NIS Legal Unit, nominal roll, and the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, no person bearing that name was found in the agency’s records.
He said a team set up on the directive of the Comptroller-General of Immigration concluded that the letter purportedly written by Lawal did not originate from the service.
“The letter written by the same Abdulkadir Lawal never represented the NIS. It means the letter is fake,” Akim stated.
The prosecution tendered several documents through the witness, including correspondence between the EFCC and the NIS, the agency’s responses, and copies of genuine and fake passports. The presiding judge admitted the documents as evidence.
Defence counsel Tayo Oyetibo SAN, representing Ozekhome, and E.R. Onoja, lawyer to Useni, reserved their objections until the final address stage.
During cross-examination, Oyetibo questioned the witness about his role in the Immigration Service. Akim told the court that he became a principal staff officer in December 2023 and had been on out-post duty outside Nigeria prior to July 2023. He also confirmed that Nigeria was fully admitted into the Public Key Infrastructure and Public Key Directory systems, with an ICAO upgrade in 2025.
After the cross-examination session, Oyetibo requested more time to continue questioning the witness, a request the prosecution did not oppose. Justice Oji subsequently adjourned the case to April 15, 2026, for continuation of trial.
Ozekhome and Useni were arraigned on a 12-count charge before the FCT High Court on February 27, 2026. Both defendants pleaded not guilty to all counts and were each granted bail in the sum of N10 million with a surety in like sum, with the sureties required to have properties within the FCT.
The charges include allegations of forging a Nigerian international passport with the name Tali Shani, impersonation of a fictitious person, abetment of personation, cheating by personation, and being in control of property reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained.
The prosecution alleges that between 2020 and 2021, the defendants made a false Nigerian passport in the name of Tali Shani and purported it to have been issued by the NIS, with the intent of using it to support a claim of ownership to a property at 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2, United Kingdom.
Useni is specifically accused of falsely impersonating “Tali Shani,” described as a fictitious person, and executing an Irrevocable Power of Attorney under that assumed identity. Ozekhome is accused of abetting the impersonation and receiving the property, which is reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained by the late General Jeremiah Useni using the fictitious name.
The case has its roots in a property dispute litigated at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Land Registration in the United Kingdom under case number REF/2023/0155, with “Tali Shani” as the applicant and Ozekhome as the respondent.
The property at 79 Randall Avenue, London, had been claimed by one “Ms Tali Shani” on one hand and Ozekhome on the other. Ozekhome told the tribunal he received the house as a gift from “Mr Tali Shani” in 2021, while lawyers for “Ms Shani” insisted she was the rightful owner.
A witness known as “Mr Tali Shani” testified in favour of Ozekhome, claiming he had powers of attorney over the property and had transferred it to the Senior Advocate. He asserted ownership from 1993 and described Useni as an elder friend and business partner whom he had appointed as his property manager.
However, the UK tribunal found all the documents tendered for “Ms Tali Shani” to be fake and subsequently dismissed all claims, ruling that neither “Mr” nor “Ms” Tali Shani existed — a finding that appears to have triggered the criminal prosecution now underway in Nigeria.
The matter continues on April 15, 2026.
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