Meet Mike Ozekhome, the senior advocate in the London property controversy

Mike Ozekhome is not a name that slips quietly through Nigeria’s public space. For more than four decades, it has appeared in courtrooms, newspapers, protest movements, constitutional debates, and, more recently, court filings that have drawn fresh national and international focus. As legal proceedings unfold around him, public attention has turned not only to the case but to the man whose career has been defined by visibility, argument, and an unrelenting presence in Nigeria’s civic life.

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Born on October 15, 1957, in Iviukwe, near Agenebode in Edo State, Ozekhome’s story is rooted in education, ambition, and early distinction. He attended St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Iviukwe and St Peter’s College in Agenebode, where he excelled academically, before briefly moving to Baptist Academy in Lagos. His choice of law, after an initial foray into English studies, proved decisive.

He graduated from the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, in 1980, was called to the Nigerian Bar the following year, and later obtained a master’s degree in law from the same institution.

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From the outset, Ozekhome’s legal path leaned towards activism. After completing his national service at the Ministry of Justice in Yola and working briefly at the Federal Ministry of Justice in Lagos, he joined the chambers of Gani Fawehinmi, one of Nigeria’s most prominent human rights lawyers. By the mid 1980s, he had risen to deputy head of chambers, operating in a period marked by military rule, political repression, and frequent clashes between the state and civil society.

That era shaped much of Ozekhome’s public identity. He became part of a generation of lawyers who used the courts, the press, and the streets to challenge military decrees and detentions. In 1987, he co-founded the Civil Liberties Organisation, Nigeria’s first formal human rights group. Two years earlier, he had helped establish the Nigerian Weekly Law Reports, now a central reference for legal practitioners across the country.

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In 1986, he set up Mike Ozekhome’s Chambers, a law firm that would expand to multiple offices and handle a wide range of constitutional, electoral, and human rights cases. Many of these cases, according to the firm, were undertaken without fees, reinforcing his reputation as a lawyer who framed his work as public service as much as professional practice.

Over time, Ozekhome became a familiar national voice. He wrote weekly newspaper columns, appeared regularly on television, and developed a style that was forceful, expansive, and unapologetically opinionated. His arguments on corruption, federalism, restructuring, and the limits of executive power often placed him in the thick of national debates, regardless of which government was in office.

“I do not belong to power,” he once wrote. “I belong to the constitution and to the people it was meant to protect.”

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In 2009, his standing within the legal profession was formally recognised when he was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He would go on to accumulate an extensive list of academic titles, fellowships, and honours, as well as claims of having authored dozens of books and academic papers on law, governance, and democracy. He also held visiting teaching positions and participated in several national conferences, including the constitutional conferences of 2005, 2009, and 2014.

Ozekhome’s life has not been insulated from risk. In August 2013, he was kidnapped on the Benin Auchi expressway and held in captivity for nearly three weeks. The incident resulted in the deaths of four police officers. After his release, he described the experience as mental torture, but returned quickly to public commentary and legal work.

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Recently, his name has been drawn into a far more serious legal storm, one that now threatens to redefine how he is remembered. A property dispute in the United Kingdom, involving a house at 79 Randall Avenue in north London, has triggered legal proceedings that extend from a UK property tribunal to Nigeria’s courts. Ozekhome has said the property was transferred to him in 2021 as a gift from a client in appreciation for legal services. A UK tribunal, however, questioned that account, citing gaps in evidence and inconsistencies in his testimony.

The matter has since drawn the attention of Nigeria’s anti-corruption authorities. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission filed charges alleging fraud, forgery, and the use of false documents in connection with the property. In January 2026, the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, exercised his constitutional powers to take over the prosecution, saying the decision was guided by public interest and due process. Ozekhome’s arraignment has been adjourned to February 24, 2026.

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Faith Omoboye is a foreign affairs correspondent with background in History and International relations. Her work focuses on African politics, diplomacy, and global governance.

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