Dare Babalola
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) against Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mike Ozekhome.
The ICPC had filed a three-count charge against Ozekhome on January 16, alleging forgery.
The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) had taken over the case on January 26.
Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to the AGF, had on the last adjourned date, said the case is to be prosecuted with “the highest standard of efficiency, effectiveness, diligence and compliance with due process of law”.
At the court session scheduled for Tuesday, the prosecution, Oyedepo, submitted an application to withdraw the charges against Ozekhome.
He stated that the AGF required time to review and consolidate the issues, which involve multiple investigating agencies, in order to strengthen the case, as conveyed by Oyedepo.
Consequently, Peter Kekemeke, presiding judge, struck out the case.
Ozekhome was accused of knowingly presenting forged documents, including a Nigerian international passport, to support his claim of ownership of a property located at 79 Randall Avenue, London NW2 7SX, during proceedings before the London First-Tier Tribunal.
The alleged offences were committed sometime in August 2021 in the Maitama area of the nation’s capital, within the jurisdiction of the court.
