The High Court of Lagos State has voided the sale of a property in the Yaba area of Lagos by the wife of the Alake of Egbaland, Olori Tokunbo Gbadebo.
In a ruling on Monday, Justice A.M. Nicol-Clay said the sale of the property was improper.
Three siblings – Fitzgerald Awogboro, Francis Awogboro and Mrs Irene Sirimis – had prayed the court to commit their aunts Gbadebo and Mary Ciroma to prison for alleged contempt of court ex facie curiae.
The applicants had, by their writ of summons and statement of claim dated January 21, 2019, prayed the court for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants “from further acting, dealing, meddling or in any manner interfering in the administration and execution of the Estate of the Late Chief Joseph Folahan Odunjo.”
According to the claimants, part of the property in the estate of the late Odunjo and which is the subject matter of the suit is the residential property at 59, Olonade Street, Yaba.
The applicants said despite the pendency of the court proceedings in which they are participating, the defendants, sometime in October 2020, “proceeded to sell the property for an alleged consideration of N75million.”
The plaintiffs told the court that the conduct of the defendants in selling the property despite the pending suit “was deliberate, reckless and calculated to interfere with the due administration of justice.”
They said the defendants’ conduct “is an affront to the integrity of the court and constitutes a contempt of court ex facie curiae.”
The applicants sought “a restorative order directing the defendants to return the sum of N75,000,000 collected by them to the alleged purchaser of the property.”
The defendants are the current executors of their late father, Odunjo’s estate.
Gbadebo is said to be the dominant executor who makes all the decisions and shares all funds.
The plaintiffs/applicants’ late mother was a sister to the defendants.
In his will, Odunjo directed that the shares of his late daughter should go to her children, who are the plaintiffs.
The applicants contended that the executors failed to render proper accounts over the years, failed to vest certain properties in the plaintiffs as directed in the will and have not properly administered the estate.
