* Maintains customary court judgment clarifies misconception, paternity of Adaobi’s daughter 

Alex Enumah in Abuja 

Lawyers to Dr Tunde Ayeni has described as false and misleading claims by Ms Adaobi Alagwu of ever being married to Ayeni, a former bank managing director.

The lawyers also refuted claims based on an alleged DNA test that Ayeni is the father of Ms Alagwu’s little daughter, Omarosa Abimbila.

Ayeni’s legal representatives, in a statement, emphasized on the need to put the record straight, “in the interest of posterity and to ensure the truth prevails”.

The statement issued Monday, read in part: “On behalf of our client, Dr. Tunde Ayeni, his family, and associates, we unequivocally state his position in alignment with the legally recognized ruling of the Customary Court, Dawaki, Abuja, delivered on March 11, 2025. This landmark decision reaffirms the facts and dispels any misconceptions surrounding this matter”.

According to Joseph Silas, who issued the statement, over the past few months, there have been a series of social media releases by Adaobi Alagwu and her agents, friends, and associates — particularly a statement released from her legal representatives on February 18, 2025. 

“These releases contain false narratives and are, in fact, defamatory in content, regarding the matter between Dr. Tunde Ayeni and Ms. Adaobi Alagwu. We now, on behalf of our client, set the records straight and correct the wrong narratives that the public has been fed,” he said.

Silas added that: “There was no marriage between Dr. Tunde Ayeni and Adaobi Alagwu. This has been Ayeni’s position from the beginning, which the court in Abuja, in Suit FCT/CC/CV/DK/M/03/2025, has reaffirmed in its ruling delivered on March 11, 2025. 

“The events and what transpired on February 26, 2022, was done out of Ayeni’s magnanimity which the Alagwu family misrepresented to the public as a dowry. This is aside from the fact that Ayeni is legally married under the Act and thus incapable of conducting another legal union with anyone else. Neither has Ayeni ever given a promise of marriage to Adaobi Alagwu at any time.”

On the issue of the paternity of Ms Alagwu’s daughter, the legal representatives pointed out that Ayeni in the suit filed at the Dawaki Customary Court in Abuja, contended that there was no child from the alleged union, while Adaobi counter claimed to the contrary.

They however stated that the court dismissed Alagwu’s counterclaim in its entirety, adding that: “The display of a purported DNA result by Ms. Alagwu is thus of no consequence, as it was a disputed DNA result to which Ayeni did not subscribe. Ayeni insists on not being the father of Omarosa Abimbola. Adaobi Alagwu can argue what she wants, the dignity attached to a child’s recognition is lost and unavailable from Dr. Ayeni to Omarosa.

“The content of Adaobi’s lawyers’ assertion is far from the truth and only speaks to her desperation to cling on Dr Ayeni, his influence and all the largesse she enjoined during their brief stint. Mrs. Abiola Ayeni was never aware of any relationship between her husband and Adaobi. 

“The DNA test process was discontinued, and a request was made for an alternative laboratory, which Adaobi declined. Therefore, the DNA being peddled around by Adaobi is disputed and cannot be relied upon. There is absolutely no value that Adaobi can derive from leveraging Mrs. Abiola Ayeni’s name to this process. 

“Furthermore, it is absurd for Adaobi and her mother and her associates to continue peddling stories alluding to our client’s actions to his wife or his associates especially when he has boldly signed several disclaimers and taken actions against Adaobi’s relentless antics, the question to ask is where does real value lie? In the public expressions of Dr. Ayeni or that which is done in the secrecy of her mother’s home or hers?”

Speaking further, the legal representatives disclosed that while it was true that Ayeni supported Adaobi’s child’s birth in the United States of America, he was not present during the birth process, adding that he only visited a few days after the delivery of the child and signed the papers for the child all at a time he was gravely mistaken about the paternity of the child.

Besides, the legal representatives disclosed that they have been instructed by Ayeni to recover possession of two Abuja properties entrusted to Ms Alagwu since, it was discovered that not only did she break the trust by trying to covet the properties as hers but, also that “she inhabited her mother who left her matrimonial home to stay in one of the said properties in Abuja”. 

“We do not see any reason why Adaobi will want to hold on to properties she was entrusted with when there is nothing binding her to our client anymore. We believe the honourable thing a rational person would do is to vacate the premises and hand them back to our client without being prompted,” the statement added.

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