N7bn Inheritance: Inside Family Meeting Where Siblings Battled Ex-NASS Clerk For Late Father’s Estate Held For 27 Years

These are not the best of times for Mohammed Ataba Sani-Omolori, the former National Assembly clerk, who on Wednesday was directly confronted by his younger siblings for sitting on their father’s N7 billion estate.

The battle over the estate of the late Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, HRH Alhaji Muhammed Sani Omolori, became messier when the family met and Ataba was confronted with the allegation of sitting on their inheritance for the past 27 years.

Like a man caught in the act, Ataba reportedly became speechless in the presence of his younger siblings over his role in the alleged diversion of their late father’s fortune.

THE WHISTLER reports that Ataba was confronted with the allegation at the meeting convened by the Grand Khadi of the FCT Sharia Court of Appeal, Ibrahim Rufai Imam, on Wednesday.

Some of the former NASS Clerk’s siblings had dragged him before the Sharia Court in Gudu, Abuja, after several failed attempts to get him to surrender their share of properties left behind by the late Kogi State monarch.

THE WHISTLER reported that the Grand Khadi summoned the monarch’s children with a view to getting them to resolve the crisis out of court.

But one of the monarch’s children who narrated what transpired at the meeting to this website said the Grand Khadi’s effort did not yield the desired results, and the family is left with no option but to proceed with the lawsuit against Ataba.

No fewer than 17 members of the Omolori family including Ataba attended the meeting convened by the Grand Khadi.

Alh. Abbas Sani Omolori, who is in Ataba’s age group and spoke on behalf of some of the family members, reiterated that the former NASS clerk refused to relinquish the late monarch’s N7 billion properties more than two decades after his death.

“Some members spoke that they believe Ataba couldn’t be that wicked to steal from the family, however, a sister made clear her findings from AGIS (Abuja Geographic Information System) which show how Ataba sold the properties,” one of the monarch’s children told our correspondent.

But Ataba and some siblings siding with him were said to have maintained his earlier stance that their late father gave out some of the properties.

The family source, however, told THE WHISTLER that “documents on some of the stolen properties were presented on how he (Ataba Sani Omolori) sold them (including) one of those lands (in Katampe) that was acquired with our fathers’ company and he (Ataba) was not even a director in the company.”

The family member said when documents for one of the properties in Maitama, Abuja, were being presented, “Ataba interjected, saying that this is not the time and place for such but he was however reminded by the presenter who is the youngest brother in attendance that he (Ataba) is not the umpire, therefore he should not do the job of the Grand Khadi.”

The family source said Ataba neither directly denied nor accepted the allegation that he sold some of the properties after the late monarch passed away.

Ataba was said to have told the meeting that “there was more that many didn’t know (about the estate) and he didn’t do anything without his father’s knowledge.”

But the family source noted some of the properties “were sold by him (Ataba) years after our father passed away.”

The Grand Khadi was said to be disappointed that the family could not amicably resolve the battle as the siblings were divided into two between “those who without evidence believed him (Ataba) and those who presented facts asking for justice.”

The Grand Khadi who personally knew the late Ohinoyi told the family that if they fail to resolve the crisis, their option would be to continue with their legal battles at the upper area court.

“He however spoke about the implications of sharia on some of his observations and cautioned the family. 12 family members were selected to discuss the matter and get back in a month,” said the family source.

The late Sani Omolori who was also a businessman passed away in 1996, leaving behind a vast fortune and a family dynamic that became complicated after the alleged theft of a briefcase containing relevant documents and other valuables pertaining to his estate one week after his death.

Ataba was accused of hoarding the inheritance for himself for 27 years, while his siblings struggled to make ends meet.

According to the family source, Ataba had been unresponsive to their requests for transparency about the status of the estate and how it should be shared.

“The youngest among us at the time of our father’s passing was just five years old. Today about ten (10) of us have died, mostly in their early thirties, dying of preventable causes, if there were basic resources,” another family source had previously told THE WHISTLER.

Our correspondent made efforts to get Ataba’s reaction to the allegations but several calls put across to his phone were bounced. He equally failed to respond to a text message sent to his phone.