A Lagos State High Court has dismissed the suit filed by Joseph Aloba, the father of late singer Mohbad, seeking to challenge the Director of Public Prosecutions’ (DPP) legal advice that exonerated music executive Naira Marley and others in connection to the singer’s death.
Justice Taiwo Olatokun, in her ruling, held that the Attorney General of Lagos State’s powers to prosecute or not are absolute and cannot be questioned by the court.
The suit, filed through Aloba’s lead counsel, Dr. Wahab Shittu (SAN), sought to quash the DPP’s advice, citing a lack of fair hearing and claiming the legal advice pre-empted the still-ongoing coroner’s inquest into Mohbad’s death.
Shittu argued that: “The DPP’s exoneration of Naira Marley and Sam Larry was premature.
Key suspects mentioned during the coroner’s proceedings were freed without full investigation”.
But in response, the Lagos State Attorney General and DPP, as respondents, argued:
“No suspects were acquitted, only discharged based on available evidence.
There was no directive from the coroner requiring them to wait for the inquest before issuing legal advice.
The application lacked merit and was an attempt to interfere with prosecutorial discretion”.
The court ultimately sided with the respondents, dismissing the suit and reinforcing the autonomy of the DPP in criminal justice matters.