Court Adjourns Ojukwu Family Inheritance Case to March 10

The Lagos State High Court has adjourned the suit involving Afamefuna and Nwachukwu, sons of Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, to March 10, 2025. The case concerns their request to withdraw a joinder application in a long-standing legal dispute over properties owned by Ojukwu Transport Limited (OTL).

The sons had initially applied to be included in a 2011 suit over OTL’s assets but later sought to retract their request. The original case, marked LD/794/2011, was filed by Ogbonna Ojukwu and others against OTL, with a judgment delivered in 2018. Justice Adedayo Oyebanji ruled in favor of OTL, awarding it possession of several Lagos properties, including No. 29 Oyinkan Abayomi Drive in Ikoyi. The company executed the judgment in July 2022, reclaiming all its Lagos properties.

Afamefuna and Nwachukwu, who claimed they were unaware of the earlier proceedings, applied last year to be joined as interested parties, arguing they should be exempt from the warrant of possession already executed by OTL. The late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu was a party to the original suit until his passing in 2011.

During the last court session on April 22, 2024, OTL’s representatives, including Director Dr. P. Ike Ojukwu, estate agent Mr. Massey Udegbe, and lawyer Chief Ifeanyi Okumah, were present. However, Bianca and her sons, along with their legal team, were absent.

The dispute also involves a 2022 ruling by Justice A. M. Lawal, who restrained interference with Afamefuna and Nwachukwu’s possession of the properties pending the harmonization of OTL’s assets. The two brothers, claiming they were unaware of the matter before Justice Oyebanji, later issued a “Notice of Disobedience of Court Order” against OTL and other tenants.

In their application to be included in the case, Bianca’s sons argued that they were not informed about the suit and that excluding them would be a miscarriage of justice. However, OTL maintains that it has already restructured the management of its assets, reaffirming Massey Udegbe & Co. as its estate agent, with announcements published in national newspapers.

OTL also claims it has not received rent payments for 12 years from Uche Obilor/West African Offshore Limited, occupants of 30 Gerard Road, Ikoyi, amounting to N144 million. Additionally, it alleges that Foursquare Gospel Church, tenants at 32A Commercial Avenue, Yaba, has not paid rent since 2017, while 4 Macpherson Road, Ikoyi, has been under police seal since July 2015. The company asserts that 29 Oyinkan Abayomi Road, Ikoyi, has been unoccupied for over 20 years, while 13 Ojora Road, Ikoyi, remains in good condition with a stable tenant-landlord relationship.

The court will reconvene on March 10 to hear the application for withdrawal.