By Suleiman Anyalewechi
Senior Lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, is, currently, in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The news of his being a guest at the Commission surfaced hours after a
Federal High Court of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, on Tuesday February 24, 2026, struck out the alleged forgery case instituted against him by the Federal Government of Nigeria in connection with a disputed London Property.
The striking out of the celebrated case by the Honourable Justice Peter Kekemeke was sequel to its formal withdrawal by the prosecuting legal team from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, led by Rotimi Oyedepo SAN
Oyedepo who is the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, DPPF, informed the court that the AGF/ Minister of Justice after reviewing the case file, directed its withdrawal pending what he described as ” further instructions” .
The DPPF noted that the application was brought pursuiant of the provisions of Section 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act .
Justice Kekemeke consequently ruled to strike out the case, the withdrawal application having not been opposed by the defence counsel Chief Paul Erokoro SAN.
But unconfirmed sources told this Magazine that Ozekhome has been picked up by the EFCC and is in its custody. It is not known when he was picked up, and why. But speculation is that the case was not ripe for an arraignment in Court when it was so taken to it; that it should have first gone to the EFCC for investigation before his arraignment in Court if found culpable.
At the time of filing this report, there has been no official statement either from the EFCC or Ozekhome’s legal team.
The Source reports that the development is coming less than one month after the office of the Attorney General of the Federation AGF had applied and successfully taken over the prosecution from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ICPC .
The AGF had precisely on January 26 , taken over the case from ICPC , with a firm assurance that the matter will be prosecuted with the utmost diligence ,the highest standards of efficiency , effectiveness and adherence to due process.
It will be recalled that the ICPC had on January 16 ,2026 filed a three-count charge bordering on alleged forgery against Ozekhome in connection with a London Property linked to the late General Jeremiah Useni.
The anti-graft Commission had accused Ozekhome of intentionally tendering forged documents , including a Nigerian Passport to buttress his claim of ownership of the said property located at 79 Randall Avenue , London NW2 7SX , during proceedings at the London First-Tier Tribunal.
The Senior Nigerian lawyer sought to claim ownership of the property ,which he said was a gift to him from late General Useni .
But his claim was rejected by the London Tribunal on the grounds that it reasonably suspected that false identities and forged documents were tendered pursuant to the bid to claim the property.
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