A High Court in Ibadan has ordered an immediate freeze on the vast estate of the late former Oyo State Governor, Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, following a legal battle among members of his family over the administration of his assets.
The suit was filed by his daughter, Oluwatoyin Alao-Aderinto, against her stepmother, Chief Oluwakemi Alao-Akala, and the estate administrator, Olamide Alabi. She alleges that the defendants obtained letters of administration without her consent and have since proceeded to dispose of parts of the estate.
In her filing, the claimant is seeking an equitable distribution of the late governor’s assets among all rightful heirs. She also requested that the court order DNA tests to verify the paternity of certain individuals listed as beneficiaries—an application that includes a controversial call for the possible exhumation of the deceased for verification purposes.
Presiding over the matter, the court directed that all sales or transfers of estate assets be halted pending the determination of the case. It also approved an accelerated hearing process, citing the scale and sensitivity of the dispute. A ruling on the DNA application has been scheduled for April 16.
Documents presented before the court indicate that the estate comprises more than 20 high-value assets, including thousands of acres of land, luxury residential properties in Abuja, a five-star hotel in Ghana, and other holdings abroad.
The revelations have sparked widespread public debate, with many Nigerians questioning the origin and scale of wealth accumulated by the late politician, who served a single term as governor and previously worked as a police officer.
The case is expected to test legal boundaries around inheritance rights, estate administration, and the admissibility of DNA evidence in posthumous family disputes, as proceedings continue in Ibadan.
