An official of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has told a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court that the agency did not issue a Nigerian passport bearing the name “Tali Shani”.
Aridegbe Akim, an immigration officer, spoke on Friday while
testifying as the first prosecution witness in the trial involving Mike
Ozekhome, senior advocate of Nigeria, and Ponfa Useni, son of the late Jeremiah
Useni, the former FCT minister.
While giving evidence, Akim said the passport with number
A07535463, purportedly belonging to Tali Shani, was not issued by the
immigration service.
“The passport was not issued by the Nigerian Immigration
Service. It is not in our database… the passport belonging to Tali Shani is
fake,” he told the court.
Akim said the immigration service received a request from
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asking it to authenticate
two passports belonging to Ponfa Useni and Tali Shani.
According to him, checks conducted on the agency’s database
revealed that one of the passports was genuine while the other was not issued
by the NIS.
“After checking our records, we discovered that one of the
passports was not issued by the NIS while the other, belonging to one Useni,
was issued by the NIS,” he said.
The witness added that the findings were subsequently
communicated to the EFCC.
During the proceedings, Rotimi Oyedepo, senior advocate of
Nigeria (SAN) and director of public prosecution (DPP) of the federation,
tendered the EFCC’s letter requesting authentication of the passports and the
response sent by the NIS.
Lawyers representing the defendants did not object to the
admissibility of the documents.
Explaining the passport issuance process, the witness told
the court that applications begin with an online payment, after which the
applicant’s details are generated on the NIS database.
He said the system requires the submission of supporting
documents, including the national identification number (NIN), which are then
uploaded into the database.
According to Akim, Nigerian passports are also encrypted in
line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards,
enabling border authorities to access biometric information. He said the system
retains detailed records of every applicant.
“Once you insert a name, it brings out the particulars and
history of that person, but on inserting this Tali Shani, no record was found,”
the witness said.
The NIS officer added that there was also no record showing
that payment was made for the passport.
Akim further told the court that the immigration service
received another request from the EFCC to verify a letter written by Abdulkadir
Lawal, who claimed to be associated with the NIS.
The witness said checks conducted by the agency showed that
no such person exists in its records.
He said the search covered the immigration service’s legal
unit, nominal roll, and the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System
(IPPIS).
“We checked our records and there was no staff bearing that
name,” he said.
Akim added that 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,” he told the court.
Correspondence between the EFCC and the immigration service
relating to the matter was admitted as evidence by Chizoba Oji, the presiding
judge.
However, Tayo Oyetibo, senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN),
counsel to Ozekhome, and E.R. Onoja, lawyer to the second defendant, reserved
their objections until the final address.
During cross-examination, Oyetibo asked the witness about
his role in the immigration service.
Akim told the court he became a principal staff officer in
December 2023, adding that he had been on out-post duty outside Nigeria before
July 2023.
He also stated that Nigeria was fully admitted into Public
Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Public Key Directory (PKD) systems, with an ICAO
upgrade in 2025.
The witness further said the first letter received from the
EFCC in relation to the matter concerned the verification of Abdulkadir Lawal.
After the session, Oyetibo requested more time to continue
cross-examining the witness.
The court subsequently adjourned the case until April 15 for
continuation of the trial.
BACKGROUND
Ozekhome and Useni were both arraigned on a 12-count charge
before the FCT high court in Maitama on February 27.
They both pleaded not guilty to all the counts, after which
they were each granted bail in the sum of N10 million, a surety in like sum.
The surties must have properties within the FCT.
The controversy centres on a property located at 79 Randall
Avenue, London NW2 7SX.
Named in the property dispute are Ozekhome and Jeremiah
Useni, a retired lieutenant-general who is now deceased.
The case was filed at the First-tier Tribunal (Property
Chamber) Land Registration, UK, under case number REF/2023/0155, with Tali
Shani as the applicant and Ozekhome as the respondent.
The property had been claimed by one “Ms Tali Shani” on one
hand and Ozekhome on the other.
Ozekhome said 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 that he had “Powers of Attorney” over the property and had
transferred the property to the respondent (Ozekhome).
Mr Tali Shani asserted ownership of the property from 1993
and claimed he later appointed Useni as his property manager, describing Useni
as an “elder friend and business partner”.
On the other hand, several documents, including an obituary
announcement, NIN card, ECOWAS passport, phone number, etc were tendered by
witnesses of “Ms Tali Shani” to claim ownership of the property.
However, the tribunal found all the documents tendered for
“Ms Tali Shani” to be fake. The tribunal subsequently dismissed all claims,
ruling that neither “Mr” nor “Ms” Tali Shani existed.
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