Legal Diary News

The Coroner's Court in Ikorodu, Lagos State, has granted an application by the family of late singer Ilerioluwa Aloba (aka Mohbad) to issue witness summonses to additional individuals in the ongoing inquest into his death. Magistrate T. A. Sotobi approved substituted service on key witnesses, including Azeez Fashola (aka Naira Marley), Samson Eletu (aka Sam Larry), Mohbad's sister-in-law, Karimot Ogunbayo, and others. The court directed the family to publish the application in a widely read national newspaper and on social media platforms to ensure timely service. In a statement issued by their legal representative, Monisola Odumosu, the Aloba family announced that the Coroner's Court granted their request on August 16. "The application...sought an order of the coroner's court to issue Witness Summons on interested persons as witnesses to give evidence on the connection and circumstances leading to the death of late Ilerioluwa Promise Aloba (Mohbad)...

Fidelis Oditah, a Queen's Counsel and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has categorically denied benefiting from the controversial $1.3 billion Malabu oil deal. Oditah's denial comes in response to a 2019 report by SaharaReporters, which alleged that he had testified in a Milan court as a consultant for Eni, one of the companies accused of corruption in the sale of the OPL 245 block in 2011. Oditah stated, "I have no interest whatsoever, direct or indirect, in OPL 245 and have never received any benefit from the US$1.3 billion Malabu payment. Neither has Indigo." He further clarified that his company, Indigo Drilling Limited ("Indigo"), did not drill the Etan oilfield in OPL 245 and was not even incorporated until six years after the drilling took place. Learned Silk, Oditah emphasized, "It is impossible to see how my shareholding in Indigo...could conceivably be evidence that I am a beneficiary of the Malabu payments made in 2011." ___________...