Justice Kazeem Alogba of the Lagos State High Court in Igbosere has advised a son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Aminu, to sit down with his estranged wife, Fatima Bolori, and agree on how much he would give her monthly for the upkeep of their two children – Ameera, nine and Amir, seven.
The judge, in a ruling on Friday, urged Aminu to approach Bolori to iron the issue out rather than filing a suit to challenge the N250,000 which a magistrate had ordered him to pay Bolori monthly for the upkeep of the children.
The judge urged counsel for both parties 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.”
Aminu, through his lawyer, Oyinkan Badejo, had approached the judge, seeking a leave to appeal the judgment of a Lagos State Magistrates’ Court, which, January this year, awarded the custody of Ameera and Amir to Bolori.
The magistrate, Mrs. Kikelomo Ayeye, in a January 10, 2018 verdict, after granting Bolori the full custody of the children, ordered Aminu to “pay a monthly upkeep for the children in the amount of N250,000 monthly, beginning from January 2018.”
She, however, granted Aminu permission to “visit his children in Abuja and request for the children to spend holidays with him.”
But the displeased Aminu approached Justice Alogba, praying to be allowed to challenge the magistrate’s judgment on appeal.
In his ruling on Friday, Justice Alogba said that he was satisfied with the evidence presented by Aminu that he had been substantially meeting the educational, medical, feeding and other needs of the children.
“I am satisfied that the applicant has very substantially complied with the lower court’s order… I grant the stay of execution … pending the determination of the appeal,” the judge held.
He adjourned till June 14, 2018 for further proceedings.
PUNCH
