TELL Magazine

All is not well in the family of late music maestro, Sir Victor Uwaifo, as his Will is now a subject of litigation, with eight out of the 12 children accusing the legendary musician’s manager, Chris Eburu, of forgery. Eburu has been arraigned for allegedly altering the Will.

Eburu is also at the centre of a controversy in the family over the celebration of the first anniversary of Uwaifo’s death. He was accused of using a name linked to their father to deceive the public into participating in the programme. Uwaifo, a professor of Visual Arts at the University of Benin, UNIBEN, died on Saturday August 28, 2021, of pneumonia at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, at the age of 80.

At a press conference in Benin on Monday, a section of the immediate family, including the eldest child, Mrs. Evelyn Oghomwen Reden; his son, Goodman Osaretin Uwaifo, distanced themselves from a planned first anniversary activity in honour of their father, stating that Eburu, the arrow head of the event, was facing litigation for alleged forgery of his Will.

Reden alleged that the manager brought in witnesses believed to be unknown to her father to sign the will. She contended that “The witnesses are not the kind of persons my late father would associate with. My father cannot have an unmarried woman to sign his will. My father was a very hard-working man till he died, and I will not allow anybody to reap what he has laboured for. I am fighting for my father’s legacy”.

Also speaking, Goodman Uwaifo said “We know our father is a global figure that can be celebrated anywhere by his fans, but not somebody who is already having issues and facing criminal charges. He is using a platform connected to my father’s Revelation Tourism Palazo to mobilise people for the event, and we frown at that. My eldest brother is in the US; he is not aware of this. About eight out of our father’s 12 children are not aware of this, and they are not part of it.”

The Okaegbe for the burial of late Uwaifo, Udinyiwe Obaretin, said he believed that some members of the Uwaifo family were conniving with his manager to do what he was doing.

But when contacted, Eburu declined comment on the alleged forgery of Uwaifo’s will on the ground that it was a matter already before the law court.
On the planned anniversary, he said the Uwaifo’s Revelation Tourism Palazzo Centre is an association, and does not need the approval of Uwaifo’s children before it could carry out any anniversary ceremony for its late member. He however claimed that the consent of the family was sought before planning the anniversary.