By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
The broken-down marriage in 2011 between Aminu, son of former vice president Atiku Abubakar and his ex-wife Unmi Fatima Bolori which snowballed into legal action over the welfare of two children being products of the erstwhile marriage, came up on Friday May 25 for the court to determine amount to be paid by Aminu to Fatima for the upkeep of their children.
Earlier on January 10, 2018, a Tinubu chief magistrate court, Lagos had ruled that Aminu Atiku should be paying monthly sum of N250,000 to Fatima for the upkeep of the children.
Not satisfied with the ruling, Aminu approached the Lagos High Court presided over by Justice Kazeem Alogba to challenge it on the ground that the amount ordered to be paid was onerous and that he has been taken care of the children in all ramifications since the breakdown of the marriage.
When the matter came up for hearing, Aminu Atiku urged the court to suspend the order made by the magistrate court on the payment of N250,000 per month.
He argued that he was already satisfying all his children’s needs, a claim which was disputed by his ex-wife.
In his ruling, Justice Alogba advised Aminu and Fatima to agree on how much he (Aminu) would be paying monthly for the upkeep of their two children. The judge described the estranged couple’s dispute over the N250,000 a month as ordered by a magistrate court as a waste of time.
Justice Alogba however upheld Aminu Atiku’s application, noting that Aminu had presented evidence to show that he had been substantially meeting the educational, medical, feeding and other needs of their daughter, Ameera, 11 and son, Aamir, 7.
Justice Alogba held: “I am satisfied that the applicant has very substantially complied with the lower court’s order somehow. I grant the stay of execution pending the determination of the appeal.”
The judge further urged counsel in the matter; M.O Enitan for Aminu Atiku and N. E. Okoh for Ms Fatima Bolori to advise their clients to
” put heads together to arrive at a reasonable sum in the children’s interest instead of wasting time litigating this appeal.”
He adjourned hearing of the substantive suit till June 14.
Neither Atiku nor Bolori were in court.
The judge’s ruling followed an appeal filed by Atiku seeking to upturn, among others, the January 10, 2018, decision of Chief Magistrate Kikelomo Ayeye of the Tinubu Magistrates’ Court which granted Bolori full custody of both children.
Bolori, daughter of Maiduguri businessman Alhaji Bukar Bolori, married Aminu in Ghana in 2007, but the couple separated in 2011.
On October 18, 2017, Chief Magistrate Ayeye temporarily remanded Amimu Atiku in a transit cell within the court’s premises after citing him for alleged contempt.
It was alleged that Atiku kept Aamir away from his mother, contrary to an October 11, 2017 order of the court.
It would recalled that following the magistrate’s court ruling on January 10, 2018, Fatima claimed that Aminu snatched their son Aamir and drove off with him.
However, the issue was resolved the next day when Amir was handed over to his mother Bolori at the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.
