Joseph Aloba, father of the late singer, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, aka Mohbad, has filed a notice of appeal against the Lagos High Court ruling which upheld the legal advice that cleared music executive, Azeez Fashola, aka Naira Marley, and show promoter, Balogun Eletu, popularly known as Sam Larry, of any wrongdoing in his son’s controversial death.
The appeal, filed at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, seeks to overturn the July 2, 2025, decision delivered by Justice D.T. Olatokun.
Through his legal team led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Wahab Shittu, and Don Akaegbu, Aloba is challenging the Director of Public Prosecutions’ legal advice, which he argued was used to absolve key suspects in the late singer’s death.
In the appeal document on Tuesday, Aloba contended that the trial court erred by holding that the Attorney-General’s prosecutorial powers under Section 211(1) of the 1999 Constitution are absolute and not subject to judicial review.
He argued that such powers must be exercised in line with public interest, justice, and due process, and not used to shield any individual from prosecution.
Citing the Supreme Court case of Elias v. Arkas (2018) 10 NWLR (Pt 1626) Pg 37, the appellant contended that “such power was not beywond judicial scrutiny, especially when it appears contrary to the public interest, interest of justice, or amounts to abuse of legal process.”
He however urged the court “to allow the appeal and set aside the lower court’s ruling and issue an order of certiorari to quash the legal advice issued by the DPP with Reference No. LJP/HOM/2023/170 concerning Mohbad’s death.”
The Attorney-General of Lagos State, Lawal Pedro SAN, and the Director of Public Prosecutions were listed as respondents in the case.
In an ex parte motion earlier filed before the Lagos High Court, Aloba argued that the coroner’s inquest, initiated on September 29, 2023, had not concluded its probe into Mohbad’s demise before the DPP’s actions were taken.
He further disclosed that key individuals who had been summoned by the Coroner’s Court and mentioned during the inquest were released prematurely and had yet to appear to clarify their roles in the case.
He added that the police and DPP allegedly acted without notifying the coroner, thereby obstructing the inquest’s statutory duties.
