Jennifer Ovuede, one of the wives of the late Executive Director of Chevron Nigeria Limited, Monday Ovuede, has challenged a court action to declare her marriage illegitimate.
Following the death of Mr. Ovuede intestate in 2023 at a London hospital, Jennifer’s co-wife, Henrietta Ovuede, who claimed to have married Ovuede in 2006, along with three of Ovuede’s sons from his previous marriage, had applied to the Lagos State Probate Registry for a letter of administration for Ovuede’s estate.
While the application was still pending, another woman, Angel Muna, also claiming to have married Ovuede in 2018 in Edo State, along with her infant son, Michael, filed a suit before Justice M. Balogun against Henrietta and her stepsons, seeking to be declared the lawful wife of Ovuede and the sole administrator of his estate. Chevron Nigeria and the Lagos State Probate Registry were also joined as co-defendants in the suit.
After about a year of litigation, with Henrietta exhibiting a Certified True Copy (CTC) of her marriage certificate purportedly obtained at the Ikoyi Marriage Registry, Justice M. Balogun struck out the suit on the ground that it was not properly commenced by way of Writ of Summons.
Undeterred by the court judgment, Angel, on April 15, 2024, through her lawyer, Felix Nwakpuda, filed an objection to Henrietta and her stepson’s application before the Probate Registry for a letter of administration.
Upon becoming aware of Henrietta’s application for a letter of administration for Ovuede’s estate, Jennifer, who claimed to have married Ovuede before any of the two other wives, through the law firm of Moses Odiri and Co, also filed an objection before the Probate Registry against Henrietta’s application.
With Henrietta, Angel, and Jennifer all claiming to be the lawful wives of the late Ovuede, the Probate Registry placed a caveat on Ovuede’s estate pending the resolution of the legitimacy of their claims.
Henrietta, relying on her earlier depositions before Justice Balogun, however, filed a fresh suit before Justice Bashua of the Lagos High Court, Yaba, asking the court to, amongst other prayers, declare her Ovuede’s lawful wife and sole administrator of his estate. She went ahead to support her claim with a sworn affidavit, asserting that her marriage to the deceased was legitimate, dismissing the deceased’s union to the other two women as invalid.
Jennifer, through her lawyer, Patrick Agu, in a motion dated, however, challenged the court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter because the CTC of the marriage certificate upon which Henrietta’s suit was predicated was invalid.
Agu argued in his motion that Section 30 of the Marriage Act, Laws of the Federation 2024, makes it very clear that the only acceptable evidence that a marriage took place is the production of the marriage certificate itself, which must have all the elements of marriage with all necessary endorsements.
According to him, the said marriage certificate, presented by Henrietta at the upper left-handed corner, states clearly that it is the “Certified True Copy of the original”, dated June 2, 2023, and certified on that same date by one Kasali S.B, a Federal Registrar of Marriage at Ikoyi Marriage Registry.
He further argued that the marriage certificate falls short of the threshold of the mandatory requirements of a valid marriage as provided in Sections 25, 26, and 28 of the Marriage Act.
Citing several case laws to support his argument, Agu maintained that the CTC of the marriage certificate exhibited by Henrietta lacked the essential features required for a valid marriage certificate as outlined in the Marriage Act.
Citing the alleged errors in the contentious marriage certificate, Agu pointed out that the same typewriter was used to type the parties’ names and the registrar, with the signatures of the witnesses to the marriage absent.
He further submitted: “Even if, for purposes of argument, it is conceded but not admitted that the typed names by the same typewriter on the signature columns constituted signatures, the five mandatory signatures required by Sections 26 and 28 of the Marriage Act are absent and these are the signatures of the two parties to the marriage, the two witnesses and the officiating Minister.
“Additionally, we submit that the typed signatures too have not satisfied what constitutes a valid signature in law which requires that any mark as signature, whether as full names or a distinctive mark must be in signatories ‘ writing but what is contained in Exhibit HEO1 is the same typewriter typing all the particulars including the signature columns.”
Urging the court to dismiss the suit, Agu maintained that the contentious marriage certificate having not been able to prove the existence of any marriage between Henrietta and Ovuede in accordance with the Marriage Act, creates no right whatsoever to her sufficient to activate the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit.
Agun also faulted the process through which Henrietta allegedly obtained the CTC of the contentious marriage certificate without presenting the original copy, as required by law.
Henrietta’s lawyer is yet to respond to the motion filed by Jennifer’s lawyer seeking to dismiss the suit.
—Alleged attempt to replace the contentious marriage certificate
Alleging plots to replace the CTC of the marriage certificate exhibited by Henrietta with a new one, through the assistance of some Ikoyi Marriage Registry officials, Jennifer’s lawyer, Agu, in a letter dated December 4, 2024, has drawn the attention of the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, to the alleged plot and urged him to investigate and halt the plot.
Agu has also written separate letters to the National Judiciary Commission, NJC and the Department of State Service, DSS, urging them to investigate the alleged plot by the registry officials in connivance with some staff in the Citizenship Office at the Ministry of Interior to issue a new marriage certificate CTC to Henrietta.