Media mogul Aare Dele Momodu has spilt disclosing some unknown facts about his niece, Sophia Momodu, and her baby daddy, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido’s custody drama of their nine-year-old daughter, Imade Adeleke.
Kemi Filani reported that there was a back-and-forth between Davido and Sophia Momodu after the former filed for joint custody of his daughter with Sophia a few days before his wedding with his baby mama, Chioma Rowland.
Sophia retaliated by spilling about their relationship which existed during the Covid and until two years later and refused to allow the singer custody of their daughter.
Speaking on the issue that has been on the lips of many, Dele Momodu disclosed how shocked he was about Davido filling for the custody of his daughter, despite their recent meeting. The publisher was shocked that the singer did not inform him of having any issues with his niece.
He told both parties to watch out for any statement they churn out on social media because of their growing daughter, to avoid any emotional breakdown.
While addressing the messy issue, Momodu also disclosed that Sophia has been responsible for their daughter’s welfare, hinting that the allegations made by his niece were facts.
He also spoke of how he tried to resolve the issue by involving Davido’s father and uncle, Deji Adeleke and Ademola Adeleke, respectively and how they provided solutions according to their capabilities..
Dele Momodu wrote expressively, “MY CANDID OPINION ON DAVID ADELEKE vs SOPHIA MOMODU
By DELE MOMODU
Last night, I received a distressing message from Mr David Adeleke (aka Davido). He was obviously devastated by the counter-affidavit submitted in court, earlier in the day, in response to his affidavit seeking a joint custody of his daughter with my niece Sophia Momodu.
I had seen David’s affidavit about two weeks ago and I was very surprised as David and I had spoken on a video call days earlier, with him and Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, and he never told me he had any custody issues with my niece. So you can imagine my confusion to find out via social media and subsequently confirmed by my niece that he had filed an action in court seeking joint custody of their daughter.
During the referenced video call, we were all very excited about his forthcoming wedding ceremony, an event our family congratulated him about. Prior to this, David had told me he eventually spoke to their daughter, after a long lull of about two years.
He was very happy and excited. So I thought everything was settled and he and Sophia would now have the opportunity of taking maximum care of their daughter. I had offered special thanks to David’s Dad, Dr Adedeji Adeleke, for his kindness and support for our daughter during the period of David’s absence.
I had also taken Sophia and their daughter to my very dear friend, Governor Ademola Adeleke, seeking his intervention. To the best of my knowledge, there was never a problem of joint custody. The issues were: non-payment of school fees for several sessions; non-payment of accommodation and salaries of a nanny. There was no car dedicated to David’s daughter. And so on. Mercifully, I mentioned all to Dr Adedeji Adeleke and he responded positively, like a true grandfather. On the issue of non-payment of school fees, David’s Dad cleared everything and also set up payments of future bills. He gave his grand daughter a car to take her to school. The remaining issue was on accommodation.
David’s Dad verbally offered, in his discussions with me, one of their family apartments in Oniru Estate, Victoria Island, however, maybe due to miscommunication, David’s lawyers had communicated otherwise. After Sophia clarified from me, she politely declined the offer, and her reason was tenable in my view, because, since she’s not married to David, she can’t be comfortable living in a place swarming with David’s family members.
She and her daughter had been living in Ikoyi before David and Sophia started their latest quarrels. Sophia’s request was that David should pay half of the accommodation while she would pay the other half. David said he could only contribute N5million annually.
My opinion is that the absence of camaraderie between David and Sophia has caused this debacle. I have cautioned repeatedly that their daughter must not be allowed to suffer or be treated like a second class child. David’s global status makes this imperative.
Sophia allowed David access to their daughter provided she has her nanny around 24/7. The 9-year old herself made this request and I believe this should be favorably considered and accepted. My grand niece had been released to go out with her cousins on several occasions.
The Governor’s daughter, Nike, was at Sophia’s house with the Governor’s grandson last Christmas Day, despite the fact that there wasn’t ample notice & she still granted access.
Two months ago, the Governor’s son, Sina Rambo, requested a play date between the kids & Sophia rented out a children’s place in Victoria Island for them to spend hours together. The only time she couldn’t join her father’s family was when her grandfather requested to go on vacation with her for three weeks last year, as the notice was too short, and Sophia had already paid for their own trips, due to lack of communication between the parents.
The court yesterday referred the case for possible settlement by the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) section of the court during Settlement Week and I strongly advise that David (and Sophia) engage truly with the process as opposed to making harmful and irreversible statements on social media which not only violate the law but the interest of their child. I have in the past 9 years tried my best to ensure amicable resolution of disputes and encouraged both parents .”
