Former Chairman of the defunct Skye Bank, Tunde Ayeni, has asked a Federal Capital Territory Customary Court in Dawaki, Abuja to declare that his ex-mistress Adaobi Alagwu’s daughter is not his.
Ayeni and Alagwu have been locked in a paternity dispute since 2022.
While she insists that her daughter belongs to the business mogul, Ayeni has repeatedly denied fathering the child.
Ayeni while being led in evidence on Monday by his lawyer, Silas Onu, said Alagwu was never his wife and urged the court for pronouncement declaring the same.
He said, “I want a declaration that she was never my wife; we were never married, and I am not the biological father of her daughter.”
Ayeni, recounting details of his relationship with Alagwu, said he had made commitments before the child was born and immediately after by paying money to Alagwu’s father in the form of a dowry and agreeing to have the daughter bear his surname, but the money was returned to him, stressing that he was never married to her.
Ayeni added that he came to court because he brought a petition against Alagwu, who had been parading herself as his wife and claiming that she had a child for him, which he said was not true.
He told the court that he and Alagwu had been friends prior to 2022 and all along, she knew that he was married.
He said, “I never hid that fact from her. In the course of our friendship, it was to my knowledge that she was also in a relationship with other men, which fact was also not hidden.
“Sometime in 2022, she claimed she got pregnant and that the pregnancy was for me. It became a source of dispute between me and her until she brought in her mother, who came to talk to me and subsequently, her father, whom I met for the first time at that time.
“Her father claimed to be a chief in his community and that the daughter had told him about me a year earlier. And that she has told him that she is pregnant and that the pregnancy was for me.
“The father said according to Igbo tradition, there must be money paid to her for the child not to bear his (Ms. Alagwu’s father’s) name. And, that as a traditional chief, it was important for me to do it to avoid the shame to him and his family and for me to avoid the traditional consequence.”
Ayeni added that he only agreed to pay the said money at the time so that the child could answer his name because he was led to believe that the child was his.
“I agreed, but it was not for marriage, because I explained that I am married under the Act and I cannot conduct any other legal union.”
A copy of Ayeni’s marriage certificate was tendered to the court as evidence.
Speaking further, the business mogul said, “I was made to believe that the child was mine, which informed why I took those steps in the interest of the child.”
He added that he made the payment when the respondent was about five to six months pregnant.
“I took those responsible steps when I thought the child was mine. When I discovered that the girl child was not my child, I did not hesitate to convey the fact that she did not belong to me.”
Ayeni stated that the respondent’s act of parading herself as his wife brought embarrassment to his wife, which led him to issue her a cease and desist notice.
“When reasonable discussion could not stop her from parading herself in a manner to cause my wife disaffection and embarrassment I had to resort to the legal measure.
“I instructed a lawyer, Dele Adesina (SAN), to write the respondent a cease and desist, because she was parading herself as Mrs. Ayeni, claiming to have a child for me.
“Not only did the child not have any attributes of me, both in terms of physical appearance, being flat-footed, which nobody in my family ever had, or in terms of complexion.
“I have three children with my wife. No one is flat-footed,” he said.
He added that he has never had a cause or reason to conduct a DNA test on any of his children because he saw no need as they all look like him in appearance.
“When she started parading herself as my wife and claiming to have a daughter for me, I knew of her multiple relationships.
“I know that the reason she was claiming that the child was mine and claiming to be my wife was because of the money I paid before the child was born.
“I demanded a refund of the money I paid and the money was refunded to me.”
When asked by Alagwu’s lawyer, T. G. Okechukwu, if he would agree to take another test since he rejected the one earlier taken, Ayeni answered in the negative.
He however added that he would only agree if the other men in the life of the ex-mistress would also come forward.
Ayeni said, “From the information before me now, I know that there are many that had relationships with her. We all have to subject ourselves to the test. One of them has even accused me of stealing his child.
“It was me that insisted on DNA when I realized that the child has strange features, like being flat-footed, which is not similar to mine or any member of my family.
“If I am to submit for another DNA test, at least my colleagues that I know were also in a relationship with her will all submit ourselves to the same test. If it is her desire for I alone to do it, I will not,” he said.
At the end of his testimony, the court asked Alagwu’s lawyer when she would be available for her defence, since he said she was abroad on a medical trip.
He responded that he would ensure her availability in court on March 4, a date he chose for her defence and the hearing of her counter-claim.
Meanwhile, Alagwu in her counterclaim denied all the claims in the petitioner’s statement.
She argued that her customary dowry for a marriage between the two of them was paid in 2022, adding that Ayeni only told her he was married under the native law and custom and therefore eligible to get married to her.
She added that her daughter was born in the United States of America during the subsistence of the marriage between them and that Ayeni named the baby.
“The complainant, who is also known as J.0.Ayeni, gave Baby Ayeni, his first, middle and surname, which she bears to date.
“The complainant, John Olatunde Ayeni, is acknowledged as the father of baby Ayeni in her birth certificate.
“The complainant, John Olatunde Ayeni, is also acknowledged in the birth register of the State of California as the father of baby Ayeni. Naming baby Ayeni and the municipal registrations referred where all done by the complainant’s conscious decision,” she stated.
She added that the DNA test on the baby was carried out in a reputable hospital of Ayeni’s choice.
“Despite settled biological ties of the complainant as baby Ayeni’s father, he proposed and arranged in cahoots with his wife for a DNA test to confirm the paternity of baby Ayeni beyond any shred of doubt. They chose the DDC, DNA Diagnostic Centre, Hammersmith Grove, London, W67BA and only invited the respondent to show up with baby Ayeni for the exercise.
“Further to the above and following a demand for email addresses for the posting of the DNA test report, the respondent dutifully provided hers while the complainant’s wife elected to provide her own email address in lieu of the complainant personally so doing.
“The Respondent later received the DNA Test Report with Ref. No.0Z5167 shows a probability of 99.9999997 % that John Olatunde Ayeni is Baby Ayeni’s biological father.
“Following the issuance of the DNA test report the complainant and his wife intensified their frenzied denigrating social media attacks on the respondent and baby Ayeni in the said social media publications,” she stated.
