Paternity scandal: Court bars ex-mistress from claiming to be former Skye Bank chair, Ayeni’s wife

A Customary Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Dawaki, Abuja has barred Adaobi Alagwu, an ex-mistress of a former chairman of the now defunct Skye Bank, Tunde Ayeni, from further parading herself as his wife.

In a ruling, on Tuesday, a three-member panel of the court found that, as against Adaobi’s claim, there was no evidence that any marriage ever existed between her and Ayeni.

The ruling was on a preliminary objection raised by Adaobi to challenge the court’s jurisdiction to hear the petition filed by Ayeni praying the court to stop Alagwu from further using his name and to hold that they were not married and had no child together.

Adaobi had, in the preliminary objection, argued that Ayeni having admitted, in the course of his testimony, that he had a statutory marriage with his wife, Abiola since 1994, his payment of dowry on her constituted a criminal offence under the Marriage Act, which the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain.

She prayed the court to decline jurisdiction in further hearing Ayeni’s petition and proceed to dismiss it.

In the ruling on Monday, the court agreed with the petitioner (Ayeni) that the case before it was not for the determination of the statutory marriage between the petitioner (Ayeni) and his wife with which he had statutory marriage.

It said the case was for the court to declare that, upon the refund of the dowry that the petitioner (Ayeni) earlier paid to Adaobi’s family (when she claimed to be pregnant for him), no form of marriage exists between them.

The court held that Adaobi, having admitted in her preliminary objection that the dowry had been refunded to the petitioner (Ayeni), there is no need for further evidence for the court to conclude that no customary marriage exists between them. [The Punch]