Chuba Okadigbo's Family Estate War

An Abuja High Court sitting in Maitama has fixed 4th February, 2014 to deliver judgment in a  family dispute over the management of the assets of the late former Senate President, Chuba Okadigbo, who died over 10 years ago.

Justice Folashade Ojo fixed the date after parties adopted their written addresses.

Okadigbo's eldest son, Chaka and his brother Osagyefor, are asking the court to among others, to declare that the deceased's widow, Senator Margery,  was not a beneficiary of the intestate estate of her late husband.

They also want the court to declare that Mrs Okadigbo was not entitled to share, with the deceased's children, in the assets and properties of the late Senate president and urged the court to amend the letters of administration granted Senator Margery and his other son; Pharaoh, by substituting Pharoah for Chaka as co-administrator with the widow.

The late former Senate President's sons further urged the court to direct Margery and pharoah to account for the deceased's estate. 

In their supporting affidavit, they stated that Margery had failed to render account for the funds accruing from the late Senate President’s “bank accounts, stocks, shares in companies and royalty from published books and other properties”.

In her defence, Margery argued that the action before the court was improper, adding that there was a letter from Chaka authorising his younger brother, Pharoah to commence the process of obtaining a power of attorney.

She claimed that it was on the strength of that letter that his brother became a joint executor of the estate.

While adopting the plaintiffs' written address before the court on Tuesday, their lawyer, Mr. Ayo Kusamotu urged the court to grant his clients' prayers.

He recommended to the court a publication by the Nigerian Institute of Advance Legal Studies (NIALs) - "Reinstatement of customary laws in Nigeria" - to support his argument that Margery was not entitled to benefit from Okadigbo's estate under the Igbo tradition.

Defence's lawyer, Mr.  Nweke urged the court to dismiss the suit on ground of incompetence and argued that the suit was wrongly instituted, contending that the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs could not be granted by the court in view of the way it was couched.

Nweke argued that the onus was on the plaintiffs to establish by cogent and compelling evidence that Mrs Okadigbo was not entitled to benefit from the estate of the late Okadigbo.

He said that the plaintiffs had failed to prove the Onitsha custom which dis- entitled Mrs Okadigbo from being beneficiary of her late husband's estate.

Nweke further argued that should such custom existed, it was repugnant to the rule of natural justice.

On the plaintiffs' prayer that Mrs Okadigbo be ordered to account for her management of the deceased's companies, Nweke urged the court to ignore the prayer, the plaintiffs having allegedly failed to provide the list of the companies, shares and stocks which Mrs Okadigbo should account for.