The Federal Capital Territory’s High Court in Maitama granted Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mike Ozekhome and his co-defendant Ponfa Useni bail of ₦10 million apiece on Friday, immediately after they were arraigned on a 12-count criminal allegation.
The charge was brought by the Federation’s Office of the Attorney General regarding the alleged forgery of documents, such as an international passport and an irrevocable power of attorney, that were allegedly used to assert a claim to a London property that the late Jeremiah Useni had illegally acquired.
According to reports, the defendants entered a not guilty plea to every allegation.
The bail requests made by F.R. Onoja (SAN) for Useni and Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) for Ozekhome were not opposed by the prosecuting attorney, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).
In a quick order, Justice Chizoba Oji allowed the defendants to be released on N10 million bond apiece, provided that each surety had property in the Federal Capital Territory.
Additionally, she mandated that the defendants present their foreign passports to the court.
Because the proceedings took place on a Friday, the judge decided that if the defendants couldn’t fulfill their bail requirements right away, they could go back home.
Nevertheless, she instructed them to return to court on Monday in order to fulfill the requirements; if they did not, they would be placed under remand in custody.
