Former chairman of the now defunct Skye Bank, Tunde Ayeni has said he may no longer submit himself for any deoxyribonucleic acid test (DNA test) in a bid to establish his claim that he did not father a child through his ex-female friend, Adaobi Alagwu.

Ayeni said this on Monday while testifying as his sole witness in a petition he filed against Ms. Alagwu before the Customary Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Dawaki, Abuja.

The businessman, who claimed to also be a lawyer, having been called to Bar in 1992, said he had, in 2023 consented to a DNA test in a facility in the United Kingdom, but later withdrew his consent upon detecting fraud in the whole exercise.

Ayeni, who gave details of his relationship with Ms. Alagwu said he had made commitments before the child was born and immediately after by paying money to her father in the form of a dowry and agreeing to have the female child bear his surname.

When asked by Ms. Alagwu’s lawyer, T. G. Okechukwu, if he was willing to submit for another DNA test in a separate medical facility since he disputed the earlier one, Ayeni said he would only consent on certain conditions.

He said from the information he got between the last attempt at DNA test and now, he would only submit to test if other men, which she was going out with at the same time with him, agree to also participate.

Ayeni said: “From the information before me now, I now know that we are many that had relationships with her. We all have to subject ourselves for the text.

“Between then and now, I now know that we are many in that club. I have even suggested that we should all come together and have a meeting. One of them has even accused me of stealing his child.

“It was me that insisted on DNA, when I realised that the child has strange features, like being flat-footed, which is not similar to mine or any member of my family.

“The proposal that I gave in 2023 was not ad infinitum (forever). Certain facts are now in my possession.

“If I am to submit for another DNA test, at least my colleagues that I know were also in relationship with her, will all submit ourselves to the same test. If it is her desire for I alone to do it, I will not,” Ayeni said.

Earlier, while being led in evidence by his lawyer, Silas Onu, Ayeni said he came to court because he brought a petition against Miss Adaobi Alagwu, “who has been parading herself as my wife and claiming that she had a child for me, which are not true.”

He said the respondent (Ms. Alagwu) and himself were friends prior to 2022, adding: “All along, she knew that I am a married man. I never hid those facts from her

“In the course of our friendship, it was to my knowledge that she was also in relationship with other men, which fact was also not hidden

“Sometime in 2022, she claimed she got pregnant and that the pregnancy was for me. It became a source of dispute between me and her until she brought in her mother, who came to talk to me and subsequently, her father, who I met for the first time at that time.

“Her father claimed to be a chief in his community and that the daughter had told him about me a year earlier. And that she has told him that she is pregnant and that the pregnancy was for me.

“The father said according to Igbo tradition, there must be money paid on her for the child not to bear his (Ms. Alagwu’s father’s) name. And, that as a traditional chief, it was important for me to do it to avoid the shame to him and his family and for me to avoid the traditional consequence.

“So, I agreed, but it was not for marriage, because I explained that I am married under the Act and I cannot conduct any other legal union,” he said, following which Onu tendered a copy of the petitioner’s marriage certificate.

On why he elected to pay the money to the respondent’s father when he knew he was married under the Act, Ayeni said he did it for the child to bear his name.

Ayeni insisted that he did not have any child with the respondent and that he paid the money because, “I was made to believe that the child was mine, which informed why I took those steps in the interest of the child.”

When asked at what stage of the pregnancy he made the payment, Ayeni said it was when the respondent was about five to six months pregnant.

The petitioner told the court that at a point he instructed a lawyer, Dele Adesina SAN) to write respondent to cease and desist, “because she was parading herself as Mrs. Ayeni, claiming to have a child for me.

“Not only did the child not have any attributes of me, both in terms of physical appearance, being flat-footed, which no body in my family ever had, or in terms of complexion.

“When reasonable discussion could not stop her from parading herself in a manner to cause my wife disaffection and embarrassment I had to resort to the legal measure.

“As I said earlier, I took those responsible steps, when I thought the child was mine. When I discovered that the girl child is not my child, I did not hesitate to convey the fact that she (the child) did not belong to me.

“I have three children with my wife. No one is flat-footed.

I have never conducted DNA test on my children, because I saw no need. They all look like me in appearance.

“When she started parading herself as my wife and claiming to have a daughter for me, I knew of her multiple relationships.

“I know that the reason she was claiming that the child was mine and claiming to be my wife was because of the money I paid before the child was born.

I demanded for a refund of the money I paid and the money was refunded to me.

“I want a declaration that she was never my wife, we were never married and I am not the biological father of her daughter,” Ayeni said.

At the end of his testimony, the court demanded to know from the respondent’s lawyer when his client would be available for her defence, since he claimed she was abroad on medical grounds.

Okechukwu agreed to ensure that his client attends court on March 4, a date he chose by himself, for her defence and the hearing of her counter-claim. (The Nation)