AGF Withdraws Three-Count Forgery Charge Against Mike Ozekhome
In a significant legal development on Tuesday, the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) formally withdrew a three-count forgery charge filed against distinguished lawyer Mike Ozekhome (SAN).
The case, initiated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), was struck out by a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court following the AGF’s decision.
At the Maitama courtroom in Abuja, the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), informed Justice Peter Kekemeke that the AGF, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), had directed the withdrawal of the charges under Section 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
The defence team, led by Paul Erokoro (SAN), did not oppose the application, prompting the court to strike out the charge.
The criminal suit, marked FCT/HC/CR/010/26, first filed on January 16, accused Ozekhome of offences tied to alleged forgery and fraud in connection with a property dispute involving a London residence at 79 Randall Avenue, NW2 7SX.
The ICPC had claimed that Ozekhome presented forged documents, including a Nigerian passport, to support a property ownership claim, allegations rooted in a related London tribunal matter.
Under the charge sheet, the counts included receiving property under circumstances alleged to constitute a felony under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, making a false Nigerian passport to support a disputed claim, and dishonestly using the document as genuine despite believing it to be false.
Earlier, Peoples Chronicles reported that the charges was followed by public outrage from several prominent Nigerians, including respected human rights lawyer and IPOB counsel Ifeanyi Ejiofor, who described the case against the Senior Advocate as a consequence of his long-standing resistance to injustice.
With the charges now withdrawn and the case struck out, the AGF’s office is expected to have concluded its review. Legal observers suggest the decision shows how state institutions waste taxpayers money and are often used to fight political opponents.
The development underscores the AGF’s constitutional authority to take over, review, or discontinue prosecutions, this discontinuation was suggested by several Nigerians in the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu without any success, despite that Kanu has been discharged and acquitted by various courts including the Court of Appeal Abuja and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
Nigerians welcomed withdrawal of the case against Ozekhome citing it’s lack of merit, describing it as a witch-hunt, a criticism that seem to have been accepted by the office of the Attorney General.
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