By Innocent Anaba
A Lagos-based man, Mr. Kolawole Adesina, has called for judicial intervention over delays in the reading of his late father’s will, a situation he says has prolonged a family dispute and stalled the proper administration of the estate.
Kolawole, son of the late Prince Emmanuel Adesina, a former senior manager with the United Bank for Africa, UBA, narrated that efforts to have his father’s will read at the Lagos State High Court have been repeatedly frustrated by objections and counter-claims from other interested parties.
According to him, his father died in 2006, after a period of ill health. At the time, the estate was reportedly administered under Letters of Administration granted by the court in 2009 to family members, on the understanding that the deceased died intestate.
Prince Adesina was married to the late Mrs. Frances Adesina, and the union produced two children, Kolawole and Adenike Adesina-Kupolati. With both children resident abroad for several years, a nephew of the family, Mr. Franklin Erinle, lived with the couple and assisted the late banker, particularly during his period of declining health.
Kolawole, however, claims that issues arose regarding the handling of some of his father’s affairs during that period and after his death. He alleged that he was, for many years, unable to gain access to his late father’s personal effects or obtain clarity on certain aspects of the estate.
He said the situation took a different turn in 2022, when his mother fell seriously ill, prompting him to return to Nigeria to care for her. During that time, he claimed he came across documents in his late father’s room which raised questions in his mind about some transactions connected to the estate.
These claims, he said, are yet to be tested in court.
Following the death of Mrs. Adesina in April 2022, Kolawole said he was surprised by the contents of her will, which he alleged included assets previously covered by the Letters of Administration relating to his father’s estate. He also raised concerns over the appointment of an administrator in his mother’s will who, according to him, was not an administrator of his father’s estate.
Kolawole further stated that a former caregiver later presented a sealed letter allegedly written by his father in 2002, indicating that a will had been deposited with UBA for safekeeping. Subsequent correspondence with the bank, he said, confirmed the existence of a document lodged there in January 2006.
He expressed concern over what he described as inconsistencies surrounding the earlier administration of the estate, stressing that these are issues he wants properly examined by the court.
The matter has, however, remained unresolved, as the scheduled reading of the will has reportedly been stalled following objections by lawyers to his sister, Adenike, who reportedly described the document as suspicious and urged caution pending further inquiries.
Kolawole maintained that he is not opposed to the will being contested by any dissatisfied party after it is formally read, noting that transparency remains his primary demand.
He also disclosed that the dispute has taken a toll on him personally, citing security concerns and legal challenges which he said arose in the course of the family disagreement. Some of these cases, he added, were later struck out.
Meanwhile, the prolonged delay has deepened divisions within the family and left the final resolution of Prince Adesina’s estate hanging in the balance.
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