The High Court of Lagos State has taken a major step in the prolonged battle over the estate of late billionaire industrialist, Chief Labode Oladimeji Akindele, ordering that the sprawling estate be placed under the administration of the Administrator-General of Lagos State pending the final determination of the legal dispute.

The order, which followed the dismissal of an application seeking to strike out the claimant’s suit, marks a significant intervention in the administration of the estate, which has become the subject of a bitter family dispute over the validity of a purported Will and the control of assets in Nigeria and abroad.

 

Letters of Administration have been issued and served on the relevant parties, while official notices and boards identifying properties under the Administrator-General’s control are expected to be erected in accordance with the court’s directive.

The development effectively removes the disputed estate from private administration while the court determines who is legally entitled to administer the assets of the late businessman.

The case, Suit No. LD/10/2020, is before Justice Tanimola Ajorin-Ajose of the Lagos State High Court and was instituted by Oladipo Alade Akindele, who describes himself as the seventh biological child and first son of the deceased.

Akindele is challenging the entire basis upon which the estate is being administered, asking the court to declare the purported Will invalid and incapable of determining the distribution and management of his father’s assets.

 

His challenge centres on alleged defects in the execution of the Will, the absence of a Family Protocol allegedly referenced in the testament and questions surrounding the alteration of its execution date.

He also alleges that the Will failed to properly identify significant assets belonging to the deceased, including properties in several parts of the United Kingdom and a family residence in Spain known as “Nigerian House.”

The claimant maintains that the alleged Family Protocol was an essential component of the Will because several of its operative provisions depended on the document.

 

According to his case, however, when he obtained a Certified True Copy of the Will and later inspected the original deposited at the Probate Registry, “no such document was attached.”

The claimant argues that without the document, the Will was incomplete and incapable of proper implementation.

 

The defendants have rejected the allegations, insisting that the document existed and was duly executed.

 

In their Statement of Defence, they describe it as the “Sir (Chief) Olabode Oladimeji Akindele Family Constitution” and contend that it was executed by the deceased, several of his children and another family member between October and November 2018.

 

The defendants further argue that the Constitution had been sufficiently incorporated and identified in the Will and that “whether or not it was physically attached cannot invalidate the testament.”

 

They have also denied any attempt to unlawfully exclude the claimant from the estate.

The defendants contend that the claimant’s exclusion from certain family activities and publications were not evidence of a conspiracy to deprive him of his inheritance.

 

The court’s decision to place the estate under the Administrator-General comes against the backdrop of earlier Status Quo Orders granted on February 18, 2021, preserving the estate pending determination of the dispute.

 

The orders have assumed renewed significance as the litigation extends to properties and interests outside Nigeria.

 

The estate is believed to encompass extensive business and property interests built by Chief Akindele, whose commercial activities covered maritime services, fishing, finance, real estate and international investments.

 

Through companies including Fairgate Group Limited, Fairgate Estates Limited, Fairgate Investments Limited and Madandola Group, the late businessman built a substantial business empire with interests within and outside Nigeria.

 

The dispute has consequently developed into a cross-border probate battle, with related proceedings in the United Kingdom concerning a Grant of Probate issued by the Probate Registry of England and Wales.

 

The claimant has alleged that the Nigerian dispute had previously appeared capable of settlement following court-appointed mediation in 2023.

 

According to his account, a settlement agreement prepared by the defendants’ lawyers was signed by him but remained unsigned by the other parties.

 

He alleges that, while he awaited completion of the agreement, steps were taken to obtain probate in England and Wales after he did not renew a caveat against the grant.

 

Proceedings are now said to be continuing in the United Kingdom in relation to that Grant of Probate.

 

The Nigerian court is also being asked to determine questions concerning the preparation and execution of the purported Will, the preservation and administration of the estate and the rights of beneficiaries.

 

Chief Akindele, who died aged 88 on June 29, 2020, was widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s foremost industrialists and entrepreneurs.

 

His death triggered a succession dispute that has since escalated into a major legal confrontation involving his children, widows, relatives and long-time associates.

 

Among the defendants is fashion designer and founder of Tiffany Amber, Mrs. Folake Coker.

 

The claimant has also alleged that he was not invited to the reading of the Will at the Probate Registry on August 17, 2020, despite being named as a beneficiary.

 

The defendants, however, contend that the Probate Registry had directed that only a limited number of persons attend and that beneficiaries living abroad were not invited because of the short notice.

 

They also deny that the claimant’s exclusion from the reading amounted to any violation of his legal rights.

 

The claimant is seeking, among other reliefs, declarations invalidating the purported Will, an order restraining its use in administering the estate and a comprehensive account of the estate’s assets, income, expenditure and transactions since the death of Chief Akindele.

 

With the Administrator-General now placed in charge pending judgment, the immediate issue is no longer simply who should inherit the late industrialist’s wealth, but who should control and preserve the assets while the court determines the competing claims.

 

Trial commenced on July 3, 2026, but substantial documentary and oral evidence on the disputed issues is still expected before the court.

 

Justice Ajorin-Ajose has adjourned the matter until September 28, October 7 and October 8, 2026, for continuation of hearing.

 

The court’s intervention has therefore opened a new chapter in the six-year dispute, placing the administration of Chief Akindele’s vast estate directly under the supervision of the state’s Administrator-General until the substantive questions surrounding the Will and succession are finally resolved.