A United Kingdom upper tribunal has overturned a previous decision that halted the deportation of 43-year-old Nigerian, Olutobi Ogunbawo, who was convicted of immigration offences.
The reversal follows claims by his wife, Maria Adesanya, that in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment—critical to their plans to conceive—was unavailable in Nigeria. This argument had initially influenced a lower tribunal’s decision to prevent Ogunbawo’s deportation.
Ogunbawo, convicted in 2019 for conspiring with a British citizen to falsely claim paternity in an immigration case, served a three-year prison sentence. Upon his release, he faced deportation proceedings.
In January 2023, a first-tier tribunal ruled in his favour, citing concerns that his deportation would hinder his wife’s ability to access IVF treatment. Maria testified that such medical procedures were not available in Nigeria, a central argument in the couple’s defence.
However, the UK Home Office challenged this assertion, contending that the tribunal had relied solely on Maria’s claims without verifying the availability of IVF services in Nigeria.
On November 4, 2024, the upper tribunal reviewed the case and found the earlier ruling to be flawed. It criticized the first-tier tribunal judge for failing to seek objective evidence to validate Maria’s testimony.
“The judge erred in exclusively relying upon Ms A’s (Maria’s) personal evidence when finding as a fact that IVF treatment is unavailable in Nigeria,” the upper tribunal stated, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The tribunal noted that even a basic internet search could confirm the existence of IVF services in Nigeria, undermining the couple’s argument.
As a result, the initial decision was set aside, and the case was ordered to be reheard by a different judge.
“The Secretary of State’s appeal is allowed to the extent that the decision of the First-tier Tribunal is set aside in its entirety,” the ruling stated. “The appeal is to be remitted to the First-tier Tribunal to be heard by any judge other than First-tier Tribunal Judge Malone.”
This development reopens deportation proceedings against Ogunbawo, with further deliberations to be made by a new judge.