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Ever wondered what happens to the numerous family squabbles and conflicts over the properties and estates left by a deceased? Then, you probably do not know about the office of the Administrator-General and Public Trustee.
Mrs. Cecilia Odumosu is the Administrator-General and Public Trustee of the Lagos, an independent arm of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice.

Soft-spoken and articulate, Odumosu heads the department saddled with the responsibility of equitable distribution and administration of the disputed assets, properties and estates between the beneficiaries of the deceased.

If you think that the job is a kid’s play, then you should listen to her: “In this part of the world, issues like inheritance generate a lot of problems. People are ready to kill each other over such issues, especially when landed properties are involved. So my office basically seeks to ensure there is equitable distribution of the estates as well as ensuring that all the relations of the deceased are well taken care of,” she informs.

A lawyer with over twenty years experience, she has spent much of her working life in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice from where she worked in virtually every department in the ministry garnering invaluable experience. “Initially, I did not apply to be the AG&PT department. I applied to work in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice but moving through the ranks in Ministry of Justice, I found myself as a director in this sensitive position.”

Mrs Odumosu told Saturday Sun on the need for Nigerians to have valid wills stressing that ‘we would have been spared so much stress, if Nigerians have their wills well prepared. You never can tell what will happen in the nearest future. She also gave insight into the responsibilities and challenges of her job.

AG &P T and Lagos State Ministry of Justice
With her intricate knowledge of the ministry, she explained the structure and unique relationship between her office and State Ministry of Justice. “Before this office came under the Lagos State Ministry of justice, it existed on it’s own. However, the ministry of Justice is now like the mother body, having a supervisory role over the AG and P T.

All staff of AG&PT are in the Lagos State Ministry of Justice. That is why it appears that it is a part of the ministry. It is the same thing with the Office of the Public Defender, OPD, which is an offshoot of the ministry of justice. They have their own law now and they operate independently but you cannot divorce them from the ministry of Justice because all staff of OPD are from the ministry of justice.

Responsibilities of AG&PT
So how exactly does the AG&PT carry out it’s numerous responsibilities?
“As I said before, we administer the estates of deceased people who died without leaving any will. The office is a creation of statutes, that is, it was created by law, and therefore is a corporate body that can sue and be sued.

When it comes to our notice that an estate is unrepresented, that means someone died without leaving a will, and after thirty days without any application to the probate registry for the letters of administration with respect to the estate of that person, then we have the responsibility and duty to step in and take in the administration of the estate. It is not like we go around, looking for unrepresented estates, but by reason of the fact that people are always coming to report us, mostly when there are disputes and when the court orders us to step in.

You know, in this part of the world, issues like inheritance generates a lot of problems. People are ready to kill each other over such issues especially when landed properties are involved. So most of the time, if there is a complaint from an interested party and he comes to us to report that such and such person had died and there are two wives or so many children and a part of the beneficiaries, that is referring to people who ought to benefit from the estate of the deceased person are complaining that a section of the family is sitting on the property and they alone are benefiting from it. As soon as such cases are brought before us, we ask them to put them in writing and we send people to take over. Normally we invite the family members, friends, relations and generally all the stakeholders. It is from such a meeting that we identify the authentic beneficiaries.

Units of AG&PT
At this point, it is pertinent to add that the AG&PT has three sections namely, the Legal Unit, the Accounting Unit and the Administrative Unit. The accounting unit is responsible for keeping all accounts of monies. They have a way of drawing up the distribution table, that is, after taking the assets, collected rents, shares, if there are any, we write to the registras and banks so that they disclose what is outstanding. After identifying the beneficiaries, we visit the estate and identify the properties in question. After that we now invite the tenants and inform them that we are the administrators of the properties, that they should not have any dealings with any other person but us. We ask them for their receipts and we ascertain who they have been paying to. Then, we make sure that each beneficiary is given what is due to him or her. At every point in time, we make sure that, as the need arises, they write application to us, asking for their shares. Many times, we pay school fees and take care of the dependants. We also take special interest in the minors. If there are minors, we see to their school fees and others. The adults, too, can come in at times. So we have a very transparent system that encourages anybody at anytime can come in, that is referring to the beneficiaries.”

Challenges
The AG&PT, like any other department has its challenges. “Most of the problems we encounter,” Mrs. Odumosu informs, “are caused by the beneficiaries. We have had situations where people bring estates to us to administer when there are quarrels that can’t be settled one of the parties runs to us or the court orders us to take over to prevent the estate from being vandalized and wasted, some of the beneficiaries would tell the tenants not to co-operate.
Very recently, we had to solicit the assistance of the police in a matter where one of the beneficiaries, a lawyer out of about thirteen of them, had been cheating the others by collecting rents without accounting for a kobo.

However, we have been able to get round that by regularly going on inspections and visits. It is not something that is entirely new to this department but since I assumed position, I try to make sure that we go in groups.

Her advice
Mrs. Odumosu advised Nigerians to have well prepared and valid wills, just in case, so as to avoid squabbles over properties meant for all and sundry. “We would have been spared so much stress, if Nigerians have their wills well prepared. You never can tell what will happen in the nearest future.