UGOCHUKWU ANTHONY OGAKWU, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): The parties herein were husband and wife. They got married at the Marriage Registry Ikeja, Lagos State on 8th November 1986. After about twenty-seven years of their marital union, the Appellant herein, who was the Petitioner at the lower Court, presented a Petition for the dissolution of the marriage and custody of the children of the marriage, and/or unlimited access to the children where custody is not granted to him. The Respondent in her Answer to the Petition sought orders for the custody of the children, maintenance and for possession of the matrimonial home to be given to her and the children of the marriage for life.
The matter was subjected to a plenary trial where testimonial and documentary evidence was adduced. At the end of the trial, the lower Court entered judgment in favour of the Appellant for the dissolution of the marriage. It granted custody of the two children of the marriage to the Respondent and…