A Lagos high court in Ikeja has dismissed claims by Helen Prest-Ajayi, the former beauty queen, that she is the sole and lawful widow of Tosin Ajayi, founder of First Foundation Hospital.
The ruling came in response to a suit filed by Adenike Oluyemisi Ajayi and her children, who challenged Prest’s assertion of being Ajayi’s only wife and her contestation over the ownership of his estate.
During earlier hearings, Adenike had referred to Prest as a concubine, while Prest maintained that she entered into a traditional Kalabari marriage with Ajayi in 1996, conducted under Kalabari native law and custom with her family’s full consent.
She presented photographic evidence showing Ajayi with members of her family to support her claim. Prest also argued that Adenike had left the matrimonial home and become estranged, making her the de facto sole wife.
However, Oluwatoyin Odusanya, the presiding judge, ruled against Prest on Wednesday.
The court declared Adenike as the sole and lawful wife of Ajayi, holding that separation, no matter how prolonged, does not automatically dissolve a valid marriage under Nigerian law. As such, Adenike remains legally married to the deceased.
The court dismissed Prest’s claim of a Kalabari customary marriage, adding that she failed to provide sufficient evidence to support it, including photographs, as well as the date and venue of the alleged ceremony.
The court said that even if the marriage had been proven, it would still be invalid, as evidence showed that Prest was still legally married to her ex-husband Davies.
Odusanya also described the claim as an “afterthought” and pointed out inconsistencies in Prest’s earlier statements in court.
The judge said in previous suits, Prest had variously described herself as a common-law partner and at another time as being in a civil-law union with the deceased.
Odusanya also ruled that Adenike is entitled to one-third of Ajayi’s personal estate and is the only person qualified to apply for letters of administration over his estate.
The judgment settled the dispute at the high court level and granted Adenike and her children all the reliefs they sought in the case, while Prest’s claim to be recognised as the late hospital founder’s spouse was dismissed.
Prest became Miss Nigeria at the age of 19 in 1979 and went on to represent Nigeria at the Miss World 1979 pageant. She has three daughters, one of whom was with Ajayi.
