Lawyer Cross-Examines Forensic Expert in Ozekhome's Passport Case

Senior lawyer Mike Ozekhome’s defence team on Monday questioned a forensic expert from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He was called as a witness to support forgery and impersonation charges against Mr Ozekhome and another defendant.

The questioning took place at the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja. The defence team focused on the procedures and principles used in the investigation of the forgery claims against the defendants.

The defendants face charges of impersonation and forgery related to a Nigerian passport presented to a London tribunal. This was part of Mr Ozekhome’s unsuccessful attempt to claim a property in London.

The passport, allegedly forged and bearing the name Tali Shani, was a key point in the testimony of the second prosecution witness, Bamaiyi Mairiga.

Defence lawyer Tayo Oyetibo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), pressed Mr Mairiga on his forensic examination of the Tali Shani passport. Mr Oyetibo mentioned that another expert concluded that Mr Mairiga’s report is a “product of speculation.”

But Mr Mairiga, who works for the EFCC’s Department of Forensic Examination, rejected this claim. He said, “No. My report followed the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standard for passport issuance among several standards.” He explained that ICAO has guidelines for checking passport accuracy and integrity, applicable to all member countries, including Nigeria.

“If a data-page (for passports) fails such check-digit checks as specified by ICAO, then that data-page is not fit for issuance,” he added.

Mr Mairiga is the second witness in the alleged forgery case. His testimony relates to charges filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) against Mr Ozekhome and co-defendant Ponfa Useni.

Mr Useni is the son of late Jeremiah Useni, who was the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under former military ruler Sani Abacha. The late Mr Useni died in January 2025. He owned the London property in question under the fake name Tali Shani. The attempt to transfer ownership to Mr Ozekhome allegedly involved presenting forged documents.

On 27 February, the AGF charged Messrs Ozekhome and Useni with 12 counts of forgery and impersonation. The charges say the defendants worked together in 2020 with the late Jeremiah Useni to create a false Nigerian passport with number A07535463 and name Tali Shani. They used it to claim property in the UK.

The prosecution also accused them of “using a false passport to facilitate the claim of the property.” They alleged that Mr Ozekhome assisted Ponfa Useni in impersonating Tali Shani in 2020. The prosecution said they created a fake “Irrevocable Power of Attorney” to help Mr Ozekhome claim the property.

Both defendants denied all charges.

During cross-examination, Mr Oyetibo insisted that the forensic report was a “result of a warped examination of a document.” While the prosecution lawyer, Aisha Tahir, objected to this line of questioning, the trial judge, Chizoba Oji, allowed it. The judge remarked, “I am looking at him (the witness); he does not look annoyed.”

Mr Mairiga stood by his calculations, stating they followed ICAO standards and involved technologies like VSC 8000, made by leading forensic manufacturers, Foster and Freeman. He mentioned three technologies used: Keesing Technologies Document Checker (KTDC), VSC 8000 ICAO Optical Character Recognition (OCR) E-Passport Checker, and Manual Publication/Calculation, which he deemed reliable.

Earlier, Mr Oyetibo asked the witness about the processes of forensic examination, including checks for page substitution. Mr Mairiga confirmed he performed that check on the booklets. He stated he needed to compare the visual inspection and machine-readable zone content to see if they matched.

Mr Oyetibo asked if he looked for photo replacement, but the witness answered “no.” He explained that the Date of Birth (DOB), Date of Expiry (DOE), and passport number have check digits encoded to verify the authenticity of the data page.

When asked if he checked for erasures, he again said no, giving the same reason as before. However, he noted that he moved to a high-magnification examination and VSC 8000 imaging.

When questioned about micro-printing, intaglio, Ultra-Violet (UV) light, holograms, and optically variable devices, he said it was impossible to check these on a photocopied document. He implied the Tali Shani passport was a photocopy or scan. Still, Mr Mairiga said the document he examined was clear enough for infrared examination.

Mr Oyetibo then argued that the VSC 8000 does not automatically confirm a passport's genuineness. Mr Mairiga replied, “No, I don’t agree. In forensic science, different methodologies are used. In this case, in line with ICAO document 9303, the procedure for calculating the check digits was followed.”

He added that the procedure used manual calculations and all previous technologies, showing that the Tali Shani passport’s data page failed the standard checks. He did not check if the data page was part of Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) because he lacked access to the SLTD database.

He explained that the ICAO standard specifically focuses on the data page’s visual inspection zone. The check digits are calculated to ensure accuracy and integrity, helping immigration officers and forensic document examiners identify forged pages.

Mr Oyetibo asked if the witness worked for NIS during the investigation. Mr Mairiga said no, but he had worked with NIS since 2009, undergoing six months of training in passport issuance and forgery detection. He also worked in the NIS fraud unit where he analyzed counterfeit documents.

Mr Oyetibo asked if he had access to the NIS database. The witness said he used technologies to get specimens of Nigerian A-Series passports. When asked about the Tali Shani passport, Mr Mairiga insisted that it must meet the ICAO standard to be considered genuine, and the passport in question failed this standard.

He did not interrogate NIS officers in Abeokuta, where the contested passport was issued, as it was not part of his request. He clarified he did not know if the passport was scanned or photocopied.

The judge then adjourned the case until Tuesday, 30 June, to hear Mr Ozekhome’s request to travel for medical reasons. In March, the first prosecution witness, a Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) officer, testified that the passport with the name Tali Shani was fake. Akim Aridegbe, a senior officer at NIS, stated the passport was not issued by them. Despite resembling a genuine document, it had no record in the NIS database.