The Lagos State High Court in Ikeja has adjourned a suit challenging the administration of the estate of the late businessman and Ashipa of Ife, Chief Stephen Obaloluwa Oyetade, until July 7.
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Justice Omolade Awope fixed the date to allow the claimants, Obayemi Oyetade and Mrs Grace Yemisi Oyetade, to file their responses to a preliminary objection seeking the dismissal of their suit.
The dispute centres on the administration of the late chief’s estate following his death without a will on August 6, 2015.
The claimants had approached the court seeking the revocation of the Letters of Administration granted to the Administrator-General and Public Trustee of Osun State over the deceased’s estate.
The widow, Mrs Beatrice Oyetade, alongside her children, Obafemi Oyetade, Dr Abigail Oyebola and Daniel Oyetade, filed a Notice of Preliminary Objection through their counsel, George Oyeniyi, challenging the competence of the suit.
The defendants argued that the action was statute-barred, constituted an abuse of court process and that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
According to the defendants, the claimants failed to comply with mandatory pre-action procedures before instituting the suit and did not properly serve the originating court processes on the defendants after filing the action.
Court documents showed that the Administrator-General and Public Trustee of Osun State was granted Letters of Administration over the estate on February 26, 2019. The grant was subsequently resealed by the Probate Registry of the Lagos State High Court in August 2022 to cover properties belonging to the estate located in Lagos.
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The defendants further informed the court that the claimants had earlier challenged the validity of the Letters of Administration before the Osun State High Court in Osogbo.
They said the court dismissed the suit in June 2023 and affirmed the powers of the Administrator-General and Public Trustee to administer the estate.
At the resumed hearing, counsel to the claimants, Mr Kolade Ala, sought another adjournment to regularise his clients’ processes.
The application was opposed by the defendants’ counsel, who argued that repeated adjournments had continued to favour the claimants, whom he alleged were unlawfully occupying and benefiting from estate properties.
Oyeniyi told the court that although the suit was filed on April 8, 2025, none of the seven defendants had been served with the originating processes.
He also noted that the first to fourth defendants filed their preliminary objections on October 23, 2025, and urged the court to allow the objections to be heard in the interest of justice.
Justice Awope, however, adjourned the matter until July 7 to enable the claimants to file their responses.
In an affidavit supporting the objection, the defendants stated that following the Osun High Court judgment, the Administrator-General convened meetings of beneficiaries and proceeded with the distribution of unencumbered assets of the estate.
Vesting deeds were reportedly issued to beneficiaries in January 2025.
The applicants also alleged that the claimants had remained in possession of several estate properties in Lagos since 2017 without the consent of other beneficiaries or the estate administrators. They accused the claimants of collecting rents, managing estate assets and operating the Sarah Sam Hotel in Ogudu, Lagos, without lawful authority.
According to the affidavit, efforts by beneficiaries and estate administrators to recover possession of distributed properties were resisted by the claimants.
The defendants further referred to an incident in December 2023 in which the claimants were accused of assaulting an agent of the Administrator-General and a legal practitioner during an attempt to serve notices on estate properties. They said the incident led to criminal proceedings before a Lagos Magistrates’ Court.
The court filings also alleged that the claimants and their mother were arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in July 2025 over alleged drug-related activities at Sarah Sam Hotel, one of the properties forming part of the estate.
However, no conviction was disclosed in the court documents, and the allegations remain subject to judicial determination.
The defendants maintained that the latest suit was filed after beneficiaries initiated steps to recover possession of properties that had already been distributed, arguing that the action was intended to frustrate the lawful administration of the estate and prolong the claimants’ occupation of the assets.
They urged the court to dismiss the suit for lack of jurisdiction and grant such further orders as may be deemed appropriate.
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