An Abuja customary court on Tuesday ruled that no marriage existed between businessman Tunde Ayeni and Adaobi Alagwu.
Ayeni, a former chairman of the board of directors of Skye Bank Plc, has been in the public eye over a paternity tussle with Alagwu, an Abuja-based lawyer.
Alagwu claimed they dated in 2019 and that she welcomed a child with Ayeni in the United States in 2022.
The businessman, however, denied the allegations and insisted that he “is not in any way connected to the child”.
Ayeni also argued that he never married Alagwu and sought legal confirmation to declare it invalid.
In its ruling on Tuesday, the three-member panel of the customary court held that there was no evidence supporting Alagwu’s claim that a marriage existed between her and Ayeni.
The court also upheld Ayeni’s argument that his legally recognised marriage to Biola Ayeni, which had been in place since 1994, rendered any other purported marriage invalid.
TheCable Lifestyle earlier obtained a DNA test report, which attributed a “99.9999997% probability of paternity” of Alagwu’s child to Ayeni.
The now-disputed report allegedly identified Ayeni as the biological father of Alagwu’s child.
The DNA test, conducted at the DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC) in London on April 11, 2023, stated that “the alleged father is not excluded as the biological father of the tested child”.
In his response, Ayeni claimed the certificate was “fake and compromised,” citing “irregularities in the DNA testing process”.
He alleged that Alagwu and her associates hacked into the email accounts of the laboratory responsible for the DNA test and inserted a fake document to support her claims.
The businessman reiterated that he has no “biological relationship with Alagwu’s child” and is seeking a new, independent DNA test to confirm his position
