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Seven months after his death, the final Will and Last Testament of a billionaire oil mogul, High Chief Olu Benson Lulu-Briggs, has been read despite opposition by some family members. The late chairman of oil exploration and production company, Moni Pulo Limited, died December 27, 2018 while on a trip to Ghana. But the Kalabari High Chief’s second son and politician, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, has been fuming since the demise of their father. Dumo, an oil mogul who owns Platform Petroleum, had alleged that his step-mum, Dr Seinye Lulu-Briggs, had questions to answer about the death. This has led to deeper controversy within the family thus stalling the burial and subsequent reading of the 88-year-old philanthropist’s Will.
Spotlight gathered that despite stiff opposition from Dumo and his siblings –Senibo and Sofiri—the Will was finally read on July 26. A source close to the family said that in the Will, late OB Lulu-Briggs left most of his assets in a trust to be managed on behalf of his children and their offspring by a 4-man trustees that has former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke as one of its members. The deceased was also said to have left substantial wealth to his widow, Seinye.
It was learnt that the late High Chief did not accommodate any of his three elder sons –Senibo (69), Dumo (55) and Sofiri (48)—in the Will. He however vaguely stated that they should be taken care of. A source said the late Lulu-Briggs made it clear in the Will that his first three sons have received their inheritance as he considered the settlement payments made to Dumo in 2003 and Senibo and Sofiri in 2004 as their inheritance.
Spotlight gathered that the Will ought to have been read in April as the late oil tycoon’s lawyers were reportedly aware that it contained his funeral wishes. It was learnt that in the Will, the late statesman expressed a wish to be given a Christian burial and instructed that his wife, Seinye, be involved. However, Dumo, the Rivers State governorship candidate of the Accord Party during the last general election, allegedly secured an ex-parte order from a High Court in Umoku, Rivers State, barring the reading. The order was later set aside.
It was gathered that before his death, High Chief Lulu-Briggs battled an increasingly debilitating Parkinson’s disease for close to two decades. Following his death, there were disagreements in the family, with allegations of harassment, extortion and fraud. The police was invited into the matter and said to be investigating accusations and counter-accusations over the death. Policemen from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Abuja were said to have invaded Moni Pulo Limited in Port Harcourt on June 3, spending several hours. An autopsy was later carried out at the Military Hospital, Accra, Ghana on July 19, but Dumo and his brothers reportedly objected to the procedure and requested that another autopsy be carried out. But the Ghanaian authorities, it was learnt, rejected the request. The Amanayabo of Kalabari, King J.T. Princewill Amachree, was said to have waded into the family crisis.
