Mudashiru’s Will: Court upholds Trustees’ right of execution

The Court of Appeal in Lagos has affirmed the right of execution granted by the state’s High Court to those appointed as Trustees over the Will of the late Military Governor of Lagos State, Commodore Gbolahan Mudashiru.

The appellate court’s decision ended the protracted dispute, which began shortly after Mudashiru’s death in 2003.

Those named as Trustees include Mr. Ibrahim Abdullahi; Mr. Ladi Cole; Dr. Olufunmilayo Coker; Mrs. Olusola Sowemimo; and Mr. A.C. Mkparu.

The appeal was instituted by the deceased’s widow, Mrs. Foluke Mudasiru and three children, Tolulope, Openifolu and Oladapo, acting as the late governor’s next –of –kin and beneficiaries of his estate.

Three core issues came up for determination. They include: whether the Will captioned Trustees/Executors was the last Will of the late Mudasiru and not a forgery as claimed by the appellants; whether the Trustees appointed by him were also Executors of the Will, and whether the lower court acted rightly when it made declarations and orders in the absence of a counter claim.

The Appeal Court, in a unanimous decision read by Justice John Nyang Okoro, upheld the December 15, 2009, judgment by Justice Aishat Opesanwo, in which she dismissed the suit by the deceased’s widow and some of her children and declared the Will as valid and the Trustees as executors.

On the appellants’ argument that the deceased’s signature was forged, the appellate court held that from the preface of the Will, it could be seen that the late Mudasiru made the Will.

On the alteration of the Will, the court said there was nothing unusual in making corrections where necessary, as long as they were initialed.

Justice Okoro said where the content of a document does not adequately communicate or represent the intentions of the maker, such maker would expectedly take steps to see that a correction is effected.

On whether or not the Will was forged as claimed by the appellants, the Appeal Court dismissed the evidence of the hand writing expert invited by the deceased’s widow and his children and held that in this age of technology, signatures could be superimposed and manipulated before being photocopied.