A Canada-based Nigerian widow, Mrs. Mariam Omotolani Adebambi, has alleged forgery, exclusion, and financial misconduct in the administration of her late husband’s estate, calling on the Nigeria Police to investigate what she described as a deliberate attempt to sideline her and manipulate legal processes.
Findings indicate that operatives of the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), Alagbon Annex in Lagos, had earlier investigated the matter and filed charges in court following a forensic review. However, proceedings were stalled after the FCID headquarters in Abuja ordered a review of the case, following a fresh petition by one of the defendants.
The case, instituted in the name of the Inspector General of Police against Olaitan Awobeku and Olabiyi Ademola, was scheduled for arraignment before the intervention that halted the process.
Police prosecutors had filed a five-count charge, accusing the defendants and others still at large of forging the signatures of Mrs. Adebambi and Mrs. Olushola Mariam Adebambi in documents linked to the estate.
In a petition submitted before the case reached court, Mrs. Adebambi specifically accused a legal practitioner, Olabiyi Ademola, of falsifying her signature and that of her husband’s first daughter in documents filed at the Probate Registry in Ikeja, Lagos. The documents were reportedly used in applying for Letters of Administration over the estate of the late Olusegun Michael Adebambi.
The widow stated that she married the deceased in 1999 at the Ikoyi Marriage Registry, noting that he passed away on March 1, 2020, after a prolonged illness.
She further alleged a pattern of legal manipulation in the handling of the estate, claiming that the application for Letters of Administration was initially filed without including her and the deceased’s first daughter, both recognised beneficiaries.
According to her, although a caveat was entered in 2022 through her counsel, Olaitan Awobeku, and a subsequent settlement reportedly acknowledged their roles, the process later deviated from agreed terms.
She alleged that after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed among the parties, further legal steps were taken without her knowledge or that of her counsel. She maintained that no additional documents relating to the administration of the estate were presented to her or the first daughter for review or consent.
The matter remains under review as authorities consider the next course of action.
