After protracted legal tussle, a Customary Court in Dawaki, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has ruled that no marriage existed between her former mistress, Adaobi Alagwu and ex-chairman of the now-defunct Skye Bank, Tunde Ayeni.
The court which ruling on a preliminary objection raised by Alagwu ruled, in Tuesday, that Alagwu, cannot claim to be Ayeni’s wife.
It could be recalled that Ayeni had petitioned the court to bar Alagwu from using his name and to declare that they were never married. He also sought a ruling that her daughter was not his child.
In response, Alagwu argued that Ayeni’s admission of his statutory marriage to Mrs. Abiola Ayeni, which had been in place since 1994, meant that his payment of dowry to her (Alagwu) was a criminal offence under the Marriage Act.
She contended that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the matter and asked for the petition to be dismissed.
At the previous hearing, Ayeni’s lawyer clarified that the case was not about challenging his statutory marriage but about confirming that no valid marriage existed between him and Alagwu.
He explained that Ayeni had paid a dowry out of ignorance of Alagwu’s native law and custom, but that the dowry had since been refunded, reinforcing the absence of any marital bond.
During his testimony, Ayeni presented his marriage certificate as proof of his legal union with Mrs. Abiola Ayeni and insisted that he had never married Alagwu.
In its ruling, the three-member panel of the customary court found no evidence supporting Alagwu’s claim that a marriage existed between her and Ayeni.
The court concurred with Ayeni’s argument that the issue at hand was not his statutory marriage but the need to confirm the absence of any customary marriage with Alagwu following the return of the dowry he had mistakenly paid, believing she was pregnant for him.
The court further ruled that since Alagwu admitted in her preliminary objection that the dowry had been refunded, no further evidence was required to establish that no customary marriage had taken place.
Additionally, the court rejected Alagwu’s claim regarding bigamy, stating that under the Marriage Act, only Ayeni’s legal wife, Mrs. Abiola Ayeni, had the standing to file such a suit.
Having determined that no form of marriage existed between Ayeni and Alagwu, the court declared it lacked jurisdiction to consider Alagwu’s counterclaims and subsequently dismissed them.
“This suit succeeds only to the extent that no marriage exists between the parties,” the court ruled.
