June 21, (THEWILL) – The sons of late business magnate, Chief Olujimi Anthony Lawanson, are allegedly at each other’s throats over the management of their late father’s property. Until one of them blew the lid off the can, most members of the late businessman’s family were not aware of what the other was doing with the huge estate their father left behind. One of the sons, Gbolahan, has alleged that his brother, Oladipo Akinwale, a former Commissioner of Transport in Lagos State, used his position to strip the family of its assets and sold them at ridiculously discounted prices.
The large sum of money realised from the sales, which runs into billions of naira, was laid bare at a family meeting held earlier in the year and presided over by the siblings’ older sister. At the meeting, which took place following the funeral rites of their late mum, Gbolahan was asked to render an account of the family assets being managed directly by him. This he did and handed the assets in his possession to their elder Sister. Thereafter, he noted that as part of the family assets, over three acres of land valued at N650 million, company shares in various blue chip companies in their late father’s name, worth N250 million, the sum of N100 million lease rentals resulting from the lease of the family’s petrol station to Total Nigeria and the sum of N20 million lease rentals resulting from the lease of the roof-top to the family’s property situated at No. 8 Lawanson Road, Lawanson, Surulere, Lagos, to Globacom Limited for the construction of their communications mast – were all allegedly unaccounted for.
These assets, according to Gbolahan, were allegedly, handled directly by Oladipo. When Oladipo was asked to render an account of the aforementioned property, he allegedly went on the defensive and allegedly vowed to deal with Gbolahan. He allegedly boasted that he has ‘friends’ in high places and that he was going to allegedly have Gbolahan locked up. True to his threat, on May 24, 2022, Gbolahan was invited to the office of Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Adeyinka Adeleke, on the pretext that the AIG wanted to mediate between the two brothers. The opposite was the case as upon his arrival, he was confronted by eight people brandishing petitions against him. He was then detained in a cell at Zone 2 Police Head Quarters at Onikan, Lagos and prevented from contacting his lawyers or his wife to tell them about his whereabouts.
Gbolahan claimed he was held for 20 hours in a cell with no access to water and food. He was arraigned the following day at the Tinubu Magistrate Court and the case has been scheduled for hearing on June 20, 2022. Gbolahan has refused to be cowed, insisting on fighting for his right and refusing to be intimidated on his birthright or allow anybody to disinherit any member of his family, nuclear and extended. He is believed to be quite successful in his own right and known to be a people’s man. He has a large grass roots following in the Lawanson, Surulere area of Lagos. He is also of the opinion that his popularity may apparently be a threat to his brother.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
