Court Declares Adenike Ajayi Sole Lawful Widow of Late Dr. Tosin Ajayi, Rejects Helen Prest’s Marriage Claim

By Ademola Adekusibe
19 June, 2026

A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has declared Mrs. Adenike Oluyemisi Ajayi the sole and lawful widow of the late founder and Chief Executive Officer of First Foundation Hospital, Dr. Tosin Ajayi . The judgment brings an end to a protracted legal battle that began in 2021 following Dr. Ajayi’s death on April 26, 2020 .

Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Oluwayoyin Odusanya granted all the reliefs sought by Mrs. Ajayi and her children while dismissing the claims of former beauty queen, Helen Prest, who had argued she was also a spouse of the late medical practitioner .

The court held that Mrs. Ajayi remained legally married to Dr. Ajayi until his death, noting that their monogamous marriage was never dissolved . Justice Odusanya rejected arguments that the couple’s prolonged separation amounted to a termination of their marriage, stating that separation, regardless of its duration, does not automatically dissolve a legally valid marriage .

A major issue in the case was Prest’s claim that she had contracted a Kalabari customary marriage with Dr. Ajayi. However, the court found that she failed to provide credible evidence to support this assertion . Justice Odusanya described the customary marriage claim as an “afterthought” and noted inconsistencies in Prest’s position across previous legal proceedings, where she had variously described herself as a common-law partner and as being in a civil-law union with the deceased .

The court also noted the absence of documentary or photographic evidence to establish essential elements of the alleged customary marriage, including the date and venue of the ceremony . Furthermore, the court held that even if the marriage had been proven, it would still have been invalid because evidence showed Prest was still legally married to her former husband at the time she claimed to have married Dr. Ajayi .

Consequently, the court affirmed Mrs. Ajayi as the only legally recognised spouse of the deceased and upheld her entitlement to one-third of Dr. Ajayi’s personal estate, ruling that she is the only spouse entitled to apply for letters of administration over the estate . The judgment effectively resolves the dispute at the High Court level, reinforcing the legal principle that separation alone does not terminate a valid marriage in the absence of a formal dissolution .