An Ikeja High Court on Wednesday dismissed an application filed by Mr Joseph Aloba, the father of the late singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, better known as Mohbad.
Aloba had sought to overturn the legal advice that exonerated music label owner Azeez Fashola, known as Naira Marley, and promoter Samson Balogun, referred to as Sam Larry, from any involvement in Mohbad’s death.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Aloba submitted the application through his lead counsel, Dr Wahab Shittu (SAN), on behalf of the family, with the Attorney General of Lagos State and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) named as respondents.
While dismissing Aloba’s application, Justice Taiwo Olatokun stated in her judgement that the powers of the Attorney General of Lagos State to decide whether to prosecute were absolute and could not be challenged.
Shittu, in his application, sought the court to quash the DPP’s legal advice, citing an alleged lack of fair hearing.
He argued that the DPP’s legal advice, which cleared Marley and Larry of wrongdoing, pre-empted the outcome of the coroner’s inquest, which has yet to conclude its investigation into the cause of the artist’s death.
According to him, key suspects named and implicated during the coroner’s proceedings were prematurely released due to the DPP’s legal advice.
However, in their counter-affidavit, the respondents contended that the suspects were not acquitted but merely discharged.
They urged the court to dismiss the application in the interest of justice.
The respondents further argued that at no point did the presiding coroner issue a directive requiring them to inform the inquest of the conclusion of the DPP’s review of the duplicate case file, “an outcome that was reflected in the legal advice being challenged by the applicant,” they asserted.
