Politician takes wife to court to recover family house she used as loan collateral 

A member of the African Action Congress (AAC), Ewaoche Obe, who was ejected from his Abuja house after his wife, Christiana, allegedly used the property as collateral for a loan without his consent, has gone to court to reclaim the house.

Obe was the Benue governorship candidate of the AAC in the 2023 vote.

The dispute is over the sale of the family house where Obe and Christiana live with their son.

The property was allegedly sold by Christiana to Jesryte Global Resources owned by her twin brother, Thomas Onuh, and his wife, Funmilayo, as revealed by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), per Daily Post.

Obe was in September 2024 thrown out of the home after it emerged that Christiana allegedly used the property as collateral for a loan which she claimed she was unable to pay back.

Ownership of the property has been a subject of contention, with Obe claiming that he is the rightful owner and alleging fraudulent actions by his wife and her twin brother.

In a video that went viral last year, Obe lamented that he was not aware that his wife obtained any loan using the documents of the property as collateral.

It was learnt that the house, located at the Sagwari Layout of Dutse, Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was built by the politician.

A proceeding before Magistrate Ahmed Ubangari of the Dutse Magistrate Court began with preliminary objections from counsel to Christiana (judgment debtor) and Jesryte Global Resources (judgment creditor).

They argued that the court lacks jurisdiction to overturn its judgment and that Obe, as an interpleader, could not challenge the ruling since he was not a party in the original suit.

Obe’s lawyers, Sambo Vongjan and P. S. Edehnd, countered that the judgment was obtained fraudulently and Obe has the right to challenge the process.

The lawyers highlighted discrepancies in the respondents’ claims, including conflicting statements from Christiana and her brother over who built the house.

The lawyers presented documents such as police extracts showing the unauthorised removal of property documents, bank statements evidencing payments for construction, and the inconsistencies in the sale agreements.

They argued that these pointed to a fraudulent scheme the parties used to mislead the court in the first place.

Obe’s counsel urged the court to dismiss the counter affidavit by the judgment creditor and the judgment debtor and to upturn its judgment in favour of Obe.

Ubangari adjourned the case until March 3 for the ruling.