Jesulanke (R)
A property transaction that began in 2009 has spiralled into a 15-year ownership battle between Esther Jesulanke, a Lagos pastor, and Osita Izunaso, senator representing Imo west.
According to documents obtained by TheCable, in February 2009, Jesulanke bought a flat at NASS Quarters in Gudu district, Abuja, for N50 million from Taulahi Investment Nigeria Limited, partly owned by Muhammed Jega, lawmaker representing Aleiro/Gwandu/Jega federal constituency.
Jesulanke said she paid in full, obtained a deed of sale, certificate of occupancy, and power of attorney — and moved in without incident.
For nearly five years, she lived there peacefully. However, upon returning from a trip, she discovered her roof had been removed and her belongings discarded.
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Jesulanke said Izunaso informed her that he was handed the property via a court order in 2012, even though she was not a party to the case.
She later discovered that Izunaso had once attempted to buy the same house from the original owner, one Grace Edim Inyang, who is now deceased.
The contract, however, collapsed after the senator allegedly failed to complete payment and the property was subsequently resold to Taulahi Investment, which later transferred it to Jesulanke.
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Despite this, Jesulanke said the senator forcefully moved in, renovated the property, and rented it out.
“After I paid the money in full, I renovated and furnished the house; and for about 3 to 4 years, I stayed there, until one day, I just saw that the house was broken into,” she said at a press conference on Thursday in Lagos.
“It was then I knew that Senator Osita Izunaso had broken into the house. I was terrorised to leave the house; sometimes, police officers would come to frustrate me. Other times, thugs were sent but I stood my ground and told them that I’m the owner of the house and that I have all the documents. But he said he has a court judgement on the house.
“I told him I was not a party to the suit and no one called my attention to it. Then I called Honourable Jega. They made me realise that when the woman who owned the house, the first allottee, Grace Inyang wanted to sell the house, she had a lawyer called Victor Okangbe.
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“The communication between Madam Grace and Osita was facilitated by Okangbe. They said Osita deposited N5 million to Madam Grace’s account in Aso savings where Madam Grace had taken loan. We all know that the bank could not have released collateral without full loan being repaid and the amount at the time was over N5 million.
“Madam Grace told Senator Osita to pay the full money so that the property documents could be released to him, but the senator refused to, saying he would not pay until he saw the documents. Waiting for Osita to pay this money, Madam Grace later met Honourable Jega, who paid the money in full, and the documents were released to him. When the document was released, she was able to give Okangbe the N5 million that Osita had initially deposited.
“I didn’t know anything, but Osita went ahead to court and got a judgment through Justice Taliba in 2012. I was not aware of that judgment. I didn’t appear in court; the lawyers and everyone involved know it. But the house had been sold to me legally with all the necessary documents.”
The certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment by a high court in the federal capital territory (FCT), presided over by justice A.M Talba, held that “the defendant (Grace Inyang) breached the agreements and accordingly the claim of the plaintiff (Osita Izunaso) succeeds.”
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Meanwhile, following the ruling, Inyang had petitioned the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), reporting what she described as “a case of gross negligence, breach of trust and professional misconduct” by her lawyer, Okangbe.
She said without giving Okangbe power of attorney, he “conned a prospective buyer (Osita) into parting with a part payment of the purchase sum, which I had set. N5 million out of N35 million, and unfortunately, while Okangbe was doing so, my nephew brought me a prospective buyer.”
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In the petition, Inyang said he had informed Okangbe that the property had already been sold to another buyer and had issued him a cheque of N5 million to return to Izunaso.
“I received an alert from my bank account when Barrister Victor Okangbe withdrew the said N5 million from my account, and I believed him to have returned the same to Senator Osita Izunaso, but then to my greatest surprise, I was informed of a suit against me by Senator Osita Izunaso at the FCT high court before Justice Talba seeking redress against me for breach of contract to sell my property to him, among other reliefs,” Inyang wrote in the letter to the NBA dated September 2015.
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Muhammed Jega who sold the property to Jesulanke confirmed that she is the rightful owner, adding that he personally handed over the property documents to her and expressed sympathy over the dispute.
He denied knowledge of any conflicting claims during the transaction
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“She is the legal owner of the property. The CofO has been given to her. She paid everything for the property,” he said.
“I pity her very much. They just wanted to cheat Jesulanke. I don’t know anything about it because I haven’t been involved in the case.
“I have never been to court. Inyang never told me that somebody else was on it. How could I pay for the property if there was another person?”
TheCable attempted to contact Izunaso via phone calls and text messages; however, he neither answered the calls nor responded to the messages.
