Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mike Ozekhome and his co-defendant Ponfa Useni were granted bail of ₦10 million apiece by the Federal Capital Territory’s High Court in Maitama on Friday, immediately after they were arraigned on a 12-count criminal charge.
The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation filed the charge for allegedly forging documents, such as an irrevocable power of attorney and an international passport, that were used to claim a London property that the late Jeremiah Useni allegedly illegally acquired.
The defendants reportedly entered a not guilty plea to each and every accusation.
The bail requests made by Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) for Ozekhome and F.R. Onoja (SAN) for Useni were not opposed by the prosecuting attorney, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).
Justice Chizoba Oji granted the defendants N10 million bail apiece, with a surety who must be a property owner in the Federal Capital Territory, in a succinct order.
Additionally, she mandated that the defendants turn in their foreign passports to the court.
The judge decided that since the proceedings took place on a Friday, the defendants can go back home if they couldn’t fulfill their bail requirements right away.
But she told them that if they didn’t return to court on Monday to meet the requirements, they would be placed under remand in jail.
