The Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Wednesday, June 18, declared Oluwayemisi Adenike Ajayi as the sole lawful widow of the late founder and Chief E
The Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Wednesday, June 18, declared Oluwayemisi Adenike Ajayi as the sole lawful widow of the late founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of First Foundation Hospital, Tosin Ajayi, bringing to an end a protracted legal battle over the deceased’s marital status and estate.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Oluwayoyin Odusanya, the court granted all the reliefs sought by Adenike Ajayi and her children, while dismissing the claims of former beauty queen Helen Prest that she was also a spouse of the deceased medical practitioner.
The dispute, which commenced in 2021 following Ajayi’s death on Sunday, April 26, 2020, arose from competing claims over his estate and surviving spouse.
The proceedings lasted nearly five years before the court delivered its final verdict.
Justice Odusanya held that Adenike Ajayi remained legally married to Tosin Ajayi until his death, and that their monogamous marriage was never dissolved.
The court rejected arguments that prolonged separation between the couple amounted to a termination of the marriage, noting that separation does not dissolve a legally valid union.
It agreed with submissions by counsel to the claimants, Kunle Adegoke (SAN), that the marriage between Ajayi and his wife subsisted throughout his lifetime.
A central issue in the case was Prest’s claim that she contracted a Kalabari customary marriage with the deceased.
However, the court held that she failed to provide credible evidence to support the claim, describing it as an afterthought.
Late Tosin Ajayi and Helen Prest
Justice Odusanya noted that Prest had given inconsistent accounts in previous proceedings, where she variously described herself as a common-law partner and, at another time, as being in a civil union with the deceased.
The court further observed that she failed to establish key elements of the customary marriage, including the date and venue of the ceremony, and also provided no documentary or photographic evidence in support.
In addition, the court held that the customary marriage would have been invalid in any event, as evidence showed that Prest was still legally married to her former husband at the time she claimed to have married Ajayi.
Consequently, the court dismissed her claim to spousal status and affirmed Adenike Ajayi as the only legally recognised spouse of the deceased.
Justice Odusanya also upheld Adenike Ajayi’s entitlement to one-third of Ajayi’s personal estate and ruled that she is the only person entitled to apply for letters of administration over the estate.
The judgment effectively brings an end to the long-running dispute at the High Court level and reinforces the principle that separation alone does not terminate a valid marriage without formal dissolution.
Adenike Ajayi and her children thus secured all the reliefs sought, while Prest’s claims were dismissed in their entirety.
