Former Judge's Daughter Requests Equitable Portion Of Her Father's Holdings

FORMER judge's daughter requests an equitable portion of her father's holdings and N500 million in damages in an Abuja court.

The Federal Capital Territory High Court located in Bwari, Abuja has received a petition from Ann Eniyamire, who is the daughter of the late Justice Moses Bello, the former President of the Customary Court of Appeal in Abuja.

She is claiming that she is entitled to 11.11% of the estates and equities that her late father owned.

Eniyamire has asked Justice M.A. Madugu to uphold her entitlement as specified in her late father's testament, identifying herself as one of the late judge's offspring.

Eniyamire's attorney, Barrister Yahuza Mahraz, claimed in a lawsuit with the case number CV/667/2024 that the first defendant, Reverend Father Ezekiel John, the executor of the will, and other individuals in charge of overseeing the property had deprived his client of her just portion.

Eniyamire claims that her father left a will that called for his assets to be split evenly, using an 11.11% formula, between his wife and his eight children.

She does, however, claim that the defendants used a calculation that only allocated 4.16%.

The plaintiff has sought the court to reverse the defendants' decision, remove them from their positions as executors, and return her 11.11% part of her father's properties, among other 38 specific reliefs.

Eniyamire's main demands are:

- A statement of right to 11.11% of all the estates, shares, and stocks of her late father, which is equal to 1/9 of them.

- An order requiring the defendants to give a thorough accounting and give the newly designated administrator general all pertinent documentation pertaining to the management, administration, and distribution of the estates.

- The demand is for general damages in the amount of N500,000,000 (five hundred million Naira).

Mahraz declared that the matter was prepared for hearing during the most recent session on Wednesday.

Following the hearings from both parties, the judge declared that the primary lawsuit and the preliminary objection will be combined, noting that, “the defendant's notice of preliminary objection, along with the claimant's motions, are hereby consolidated so that both matters will be addressed simultaneously.”

The matter was subsequently postponed until June 4, 2024 by the judge, who stated that “today is not convenient for the court to hear the case.”

Background: Various legal matters inside the Federal Capital Territory are within the jurisdiction of the FCT High Court. As a testamentary instrument, a will is willingly made and carried out under a court's supervision.