Former Skye Bank Plc Chairman, Tunde Ayeni, is embroiled in a legal dispute with Lagos-based businesswoman Gail Fajembola over a luxury apartment in Banana Island, Lagos.
The dispute centres on an apartment at K9-2, Ocean Parade, Banana Island, which is claimed by Olutoyi Estate Development & Services Ltd, a property company associated with Ayeni.
In a petition to the Inspector General of Police, the company accused Fajembola and her company, GIF Energy Resources Limited, of unlawfully taking possession of the property and leasing it to a third party.
The petition, dated June 13, 2025, alleged that Fajembola had been allowed to occupy the apartment temporarily on compassionate grounds but later rented it out without the company’s authorisation.
According to the petition, the apartment was allegedly leased for more than three years, with rental proceeds estimated by the company to have exceeded ₦100 million.
The company further alleged that Fajembola had no legal title or authority to sublet the property and accused her of causing financial losses through the arrangement.
The petition was titled, “Re: Petition Against Gail Fajembola and GIF Energy Resources Limited for Fraudulent Conversion and Unauthorised Leasing of Apartment K9-2, Ocean Parade, Banana Island, Lagos.”
It was reportedly acknowledged by the Office of the Inspector General of Police on June 17, 2025.
Fajembola, however, has challenged the actions against her in court.
Fajembola, however, has challenged the actions against her in court.
She has filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit before the Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking an order restraining Olutoyi Estate Development & Services Ltd, the Inspector General of Police and other respondents from arresting, detaining or harassing her over the property dispute.
In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, Fajembola said her relationship with Ayeni began in 2016 and that he allowed her to take possession of the apartment that year.
She claimed to have spent $45,792 furnishing the property and said she lived there until relocating to the United Kingdom in 2019.
According to her account before the court, she subsequently used the apartment temporarily as an Airbnb property before leasing it in 2022 to Expand Global Industries Ltd for one year.
Fajembola maintained that the lease was entered into with Ayeni’s verbal consent.
She further alleged that following the breakdown of her relationship with Ayeni, she came under pressure to remove the tenant and surrender the apartment.
Rather than pursue the matter through civil proceedings, she alleged that the estate company resorted to involving the police.
Fajembola told the court that she and other persons connected with the property were summoned by the police, where she claimed they were subjected to intimidation and harassment.
Through her lawyer, Akin Apara, she is asking the Federal High Court to declare that any threat to arrest or detain her over what she describes as a private civil property dispute would violate her fundamental rights.
She is also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the respondents from further interfering with her rights, as well as ₦50 million in damages for what she describes as unlawful and unconstitutional interference with her freedoms.
The dispute is now before the court, with both sides presenting different accounts of how Fajembola came to occupy the Banana Island apartment and whether she had the authority to lease it to another party.
The court’s determination will ultimately establish the legal rights and obligations of the parties in relation to the disputed property.
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