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. N 410,347,000, 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 asset control disputes 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.
