Alao-Akala Estate War: First Daughter Demands Exhumation, DNA Tests

​The battle for the multi-billion naira estate of the late former Governor of Oyo State, Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, has taken a dramatic and clinical turn. His eldest daughter, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Alao-Aderinto, has approached the Oyo State High Court with a startling request: the exhumation of her father’s remains to facilitate DNA paternity tests for seven individuals claiming to be his heirs.

​The legal firestorm, captured in suit no. I/443/2024 before Justice Taiwo at the Ring Road High Court in Ibadan, threatens to strip the veil of privacy from one of Oyo’s most prominent political dynasties. Represented by Oladipo Olasope (SAN), Oluwatoyin is demanding that the court-ordered scientific verification be conducted at an accredited facility, with results delivered in a sealed envelope to be opened in open court.

​A Dynasty Divided

​At the heart of the crisis is the vast wealth left behind by the “Oyato” governor, who died intestate (without a will) on January 12, 2022. The estate is a sprawling empire, reportedly including:

• ​High-value real estate across Ibadan, Lagos, and Abuja.
• ​International assets in the United Kingdom and the United States.
• ​A five-star hotel located in Ghana.
• ​Luxury vehicle fleets and diversified bank accounts holding hundreds of millions in Naira, Dollars, and Pounds Sterling.

​The rift widened in October 2022 when Kemi Alao-Akala and Olamide Alabi allegedly secured Letters of Administration from the Oyo State Probate Registry. Oluwatoyin contends this was done in “calculated and unlawful” secrecy, effectively bypassing her status as the first child and excluding other legitimate beneficiaries.

​The Quest for “Scientific Truth”

​The daughter’s legal team argues that a “winner-takes-all” approach has been adopted by the current administrators. To settle the matter of legitimacy once and for all, Oluwatoyin is seeking DNA profiles for herself and six others: Olamide, Adebukola, Olamipo, Tabitha, Olamikunle, and Olamiju—the latter being a sitting member of the House of Representatives.

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​”This is an inheritance case,” Olasope SAN stated. “It is only right to determine who is truly entitled to the estate.”

​The move to exhume the former governor from his mausoleum in Ogbomoso marks a desperate peak in the family’s inability to find common ground. While the court weighs the ethical and legal gravity of disturbing the dead, the legacy of the late “Otunba of the Source” hangs in the balance, caught between the sanctity of the grave and the cold reality of forensic science.