A Lagos High Court has delivered a sweeping judgment against former NTA staff and businesswoman, Ms. Olufunke Otti, ordering her to relinquish a prime Ikoyi property and refund hundreds of millions of naira to her ex-husband, billionaire shipping magnate, Chief Isaac Morakinyo Jolapamo.
Delivering judgment in suit No. LD/3034LM/2022 on March 26, 2026, Justice Olufolake Olufolashade Adewunmi-Oshin held that the property located at 23A & B Olusegun Aina Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, rightfully belongs to Chief Jolapamo. The court found that Ms. Otti, a former staff of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), unlawfully registered the property in her name despite acquiring it with funds entrusted to her by her then-husband.
Consequently, the court ordered her to return the property and
refund N410,347,000, being the outstanding proceeds from the sale of two
vessels—M.T. MOR Prosperity and M.T. Power. She was further directed to remit N63,000,000 in rental income collected between 2018 and 2021, alongside N5
million awarded as general damages.
The court heard that the former couple met at the Mountain of
Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), where their relationship evolved from
spiritual guidance to marriage, formalised on February 23, 2017, at the Federal
Marriage Registry in Ikoyi.
During the marriage, Chief Jolapamo entrusted Ms. Otti with
significant business responsibilities, including the sale of his vessels, with
explicit instructions to use the proceeds to acquire a matrimonial home in
Parkview Estate. While she carried out the purchase, she allegedly concealed
ownership by registering the property solely in her name.
Their relationship later collapsed dramatically in 2019 after
Ms. Otti reportedly informed her husband via WhatsApp, while he was abroad,
that she was no longer interested in the marriage and asked him to vacate the
home. They had since lived apart.
Background to the Dispute
The legal battle is rooted in a marriage that had earlier been
declared irretrievably broken by the courts. In April 2025, an Osun State High
Court sitting in Osogbo dissolved the union between Chief Jolapamo and Ms. Otti
after finding that both parties had lived separately since 2019 and no longer
wished to continue the marriage.
Court proceedings at the time revealed deep-seated mistrust
between the couple, with allegations of disputes over asset control and threats that
underscored the breakdown of the relationship.
The collapse of the marriage—and the lingering disputes over
property and finances—set the stage for the prolonged litigation that has now
culminated in the Lagos High Court’s decisive ruling, restoring both the Ikoyi
property and substantial financial claims to the shipping magnate.
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