President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, has reacted to the conflicting interim injunctions that has been granted on the Kano Emirate tussle.

In a statement released on Wednesday, May 29, Maikyau called for an urgent review of the professional conduct of both the counsel and judges involved in these matters.

Maikyau also called for the respective heads of the courts to investigate the conduct of the judges and report their findings to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for necessary action.

He said; 

“I must say, without any equivocation, that the conducts of counsel and the Courts in the handling of the proceedings which culminated in the orders issued by the Federal High Court, the Kano State High Court and again the Federal High Court, in circus, have brought utter disgrace and shame to the profession have exposed the entire legal profession in Nigeria to public ridicule and opprobrium.

“The damage is one that would take the legal profession a long time to recover from. It is unfortunate and was totally uncalled for. For a country whose legal resources and expertise have for several decades been exported and positively impacted not only the African continent but the world at large, it is completely unacceptable that the processes of our courts would be deployed in the manner we have witnessed in the last couple of days, on a subject matter that is as clear as chieftaincy dispute.

“This is a subject that has been sufficiently dealt with by legislation and case law, leaving no one confused about the jurisprudence on the subject-both procedural and substantive.

“Without prejudice to the subsisting actions before both the Federal High Court and the Kano State High Court, it is my considered view that there is an urgent need to scrutinize the professional conduct of both Counsel and the Judges involved in these matters. This is to enable the relevant bodies or institutions to determine their culpability or otherwise, from an ethical and professional standpoint.

“I therefore call on the respective heads of the Courts of the Judges concerned, to take immediate steps to look into their conduct with the view to finding any possible abuse of their judicial offices and file a report with the National Judicial Council for necessary action. The NBA on the other hand will investigate the conduct of the counsel involved in these cases and shall not hesitate to commence disciplinary action against them before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, should there be any finding of alleged professional misconduct against them. The Chairman of the NBA Ethics and Disciplinary Committee has accordingly been directed to invite these counsel for preliminary investigations.

“While the NBA shall continue to stand for and protect the integrity, welfare, and independence of the Bar and the Judiciary, we shall not hesitate to call out any Judge or counsel, who engages in any conduct that is capable of bringing the legal profession to disrepute.”

CJN summons FHC CJ, Kano CJ over conflicting court orders 

NBA seeks disciplinary measures against culprits 

Groups say their resistance not political

Alex Enumah in Abuja and Ahmad Sorondinki in Kano

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has proposed an emergency meeting for next week, where the the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho and his counterpart in Kano State, Justice Dije Aboki, would be invited and subjected to serious investigations.

This came as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, has summoned both judges over the recent conflicting orders emanating from the courts under them.

At the same time, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called for disciplinary actions against lawyers and judges involved in the issuance of conflicting court orders in the Kano Emirate legal tussle.

Also, prominent groups in two of the four dissolved Emirates Councils, have again kicked against abolition of the emirates, saying their resistance had no political bias as being peddled in some quarters.

According to a statement by the Director of Information, National Judicial Council (NJC), Mr Soji Oye, the two head of courts, were to meet with the CJN today, May 30, 2024.

The statement read: “Sequel to the conflicting judgements emanating from the Federal High Court, and Kano State High Court of Justice on the chieftaincy matter in Kano State, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman, National Judicial Council, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, GCON, has summoned the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, and Chief Judge of Kano State High Court, Justice Dije Aboki for an emergency meeting in his chambers tomorrow Thursday May 30, 2024.

“The meeting which is a prelude to whole scale investigation by the National Judicial Council is to enable the CJN have a proper briefing on this very disturbing development by the two respective Chief Judges.”

The statement added that there was a strong indication that the “NJC will conduct an emergency meeting next week, where the subject judges are likely to be invited and subjected to serious investigations.”

Since last week that the Kano State Government repealed the law creating four additional emirates for Kano metropolis, both the federal and Kano State high courts had been issuing orders that were at variance to the government as well as security agencies.

Justice A. M. Liman had in an exparte ordered the security agencies not to implement the new law passed by the state assembly dissolving the emirates, with the intention of halting the reinstatement of Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II.

However, the government had already gone ahead with the installment, claiming that the restraining order came after the installment of Sanusi, adding also that the judge who issued the order was not physically present in Kano.

They argued further that as at 5pm Friday, when the governor signed the bill dissolving the former emirates, it was not possible for the applicant to have filed the suit, made payment and also obtained an enrolled order.

But following application from the government, the Kano State High Court, presided over by Justice Amina Adamu Aliyu, issued an injunction restraining the five deposed emirs from parading themselves as emirs and also asked that they vacate their respective palaces.

This order, however, ran contrary to the earlier one issued to the security agencies by Justice Liman.

Shortly after, another Federal High Court in Kano, presided over by Justice S. A. Amobeda, issued an order for the eviction of Sanusi from the Kofar Kudu Palace, reinforcing the authority of the 15th Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero.

Immediately, too, Justice Amina issued a counter order to even up with the other camp, a development which raised concerns about the state of the Kano Emirate and the escalation of its rulership tussle.

But the NBA, which called for disciplinary actions against erring members, said the actions of the ministers in the Temple of Justice, had brought disgrace and shame to the profession and exposed the entire legal profession to public ridicule and opprobrium.

The NBA President, Mr Yakubu Maikyau, in a statement, yesterday, vowed to drag any lawyer found culpable in the matter before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) for necessary sanctions.

He called on the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court and his counterpart in the High Court of Kano State to identify the judicial officers involved and drag them before the NJC for disciplinary action.

“I have keenly followed the developments on the recent events concerning the stool of the Emir of Kano.

“I must say, without any equivocation, that the conducts of counsel and the courts in the handling of the proceedings which culminated in the orders issued by the Federal High Court, the Kano State High Court and again the Federal High Court, in circus, have brought utter disgrace and shame to the profession – have exposed the entire legal profession in Nigeria to public ridicule and opprobrium.

“The damage is one that would take the legal profession a long time to recover from. It is unfortunate and was totally uncalled for.

“For a country, whose legal resources and expertise have for several decades been exported and positively impacted not only the African continent but the world at large, it is completely unacceptable that the processes of our courts would be deployed in the manner we have witnessed in the last couple of days, on a subject matter that is as clear as chieftaincy dispute.

“This is a subject that has been sufficiently dealt with by legislations and case law, leaving no one confused about the jurisprudence on the subject – both procedural and substantive.

“Without prejudice to the subsisting actions before both the Federal High Court and the Kano State High Court, it is my considered view that there is urgent need to scrutinise the professional conducts of both counsel and the judges involved in these matters.

“This is to enable the relevant bodies or institutions determine their culpability or otherwise, from an ethical and professional standpoint.

“I therefore call on the respective heads of the courts of the judges concerned, to take immediate steps to look into their conducts with the view to finding any possible abuse of their judicial offices and file a report with the National Judicial Council for necessary action.

“The NBA on the other hand will investigate the conducts of the counsel involved in these cases and shall not hesitate to commence disciplinary action against them before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, should there be any finding of alleged professional misconduct against them,” The NBA boss said.

On their part, one of the two stakeholder groups, Inuwar Jama’ar Masarautar Bichi (Bichi Emirate Development Association), warned that, they would not accept any arrangement other than the reversal of the law to restore their emirate.

Leader of the group, Bello Gambo Bichi, said the formation of the five emirates by the former administration of Abdullahi Ganduje had brought numerous development to their respective areas.

According to him, the Bichi Emirate had witnessed development in the areas of healthcare, education, economy, agriculture and road infrastructure.

The second group of prominent elders of Rano Emirate Council, in the Kano south, under the leadership of Alhaji Musa Salihu Doguwa, told journalists during a press conference at the press center, that the way and manner the amendments law was done remained controversial. 

He added that the members of the state assembly hastily amended the law on how the governor assented to it was also a significant setback to the progress and development of the emirates.

His listed some of the development projects brought as a result of the upgrade of the new emirates in southern Kano brought about under the leadership of the former Governor Umar Abdullahi Ganduje.

Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, has said the state’s governorship election petition tribunal, which sat in Abuja, exposed the electoral fraud perpetrated by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11, 2023 poll in the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, the party’s chairman and a serving Commissioner of Police.

Recall that the tribunal had on Monday dismissed the APC and Sylva’s petition challenging the declaration of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the election for lacking in merit The Bayelsa governor spoke on Tuesday night at the King of Glory Chapel in Government House, Yenagoa, where he stopped for thanksgiving upon his arrival from Abuja.

A crowd of jubilant party members and supporters thronged the state airport and the Government House to welcome the governor. A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, quoted the governor as saying that during cross-examination at the tribunal, the APC witnesses shot themselves in the foot with frivolous claims and inconsistent exhibits.

The governor narrated how a former Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Tolani Alausa, who was procured as a star witness in the case, tainted his image by tendering false evidence before the court and was humiliated for parading fake INEC documents.

He noted that although Mr Alausa was no longer the CP in the state, the senior police officer presented himself at the tribunal to defend the fraud perpetrated by the APC candidate. Diri also said the tribunal equally excoriated the party’s chairman in the state, Chief Dennis Otiotio, for his “unprofessional conduct” being a legal practitioner. He said: “During one of the sittings, I physically went to the tribunal and I saw what transpired.

“Our party’s secretary, in the witness box, stated that most of the election materials the APC presented as INEC’s documents before the court were manufactured by the APC state chairman, Dennis Otiotio.”

President Bola Tinubu says no amount of foreign aid will help Nigeria unless citizens unite to build the country.

While addressing a joint session of the national assembly in Abuja on Wednesday, Tinubu said no institution or personality would help the country grow except the citizens.

The president noted that without the national assembly, he would not have found a path to the presidency.

“You sang out the latest national anthem, ‘Nigeria we hail thee’. This is our diversity, representing all people, and how we pledge together to be brothers and sisters,” Tinubu said.

“Without this house, I probably would not have found a path to the presidency; I started it all from here. That is why I have given that respect to you this morning and will continue to collaborate with you to build our country together.

“We have no other choice. No other institution or personality will help us, except we do it ourselves.

“No amount of aid from foreign countries can help us. Let us work together to build our nation, charting a new path.”

Tinubu thanked the lawmakers for “building up this institution to this level.”

“Our friends, old and new, to every Nigerian, I say congratulations on 25 years of unbroken democracy,” he said.

“You are the foremost leaders who speak for our people and have been at the forefront of this struggle.”

The president added that the country’s democracy must be nurtured “so that our children and great-grandchildren will be assured of prosperity, progress, and development”.

THE pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, urged President Bola Tinubu to review his economic policies, noting that they have pauperised Nigerians.

Afenifere, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Justice Faloye, urged President Tinubu to alleviate the plight of Nigerians.

Reviewing Tinubu’s first year in office, the Yoruba body said: “The economy has experienced severe turbulence in the one-year administration of President Bola Tinubu, worsening the previous administration’s economic legacy.

“Afenifere, hereby, calls for a better understanding of the economy to stop the al
arming rate of inflation, devaluation, increasing unemployment, homelessness and poverty.

“Firstly, it is an illogical economic belief that the subsidy removals and tax increases that remove money from the economy will stimulate economic growth.

“Therefore, the adoption of flawed neo-liberal theories of subsidy removal and unbridled tax increases must be stopped since they always contract the economy and ours is no exception as companies are folding up and leaving due to fuel and electricity costs skyrocketing, fuelling galloping inflation and fall of real incomes.

“These policies are crowding out the productive sectors of the economy from much-needed loans. The hikes in interest rates are not effective in curbing inflation for the twin reasons that whatever loans are withheld from the private sector by the restrictive policies are flowing to the government which is spending recklessly and pumping the same funds right back into the markets.

“The policy of floating the Naira without moderating the excesses of the free market speculators and hoarders, and a nation addicted to capital flight, is questionable economic logic. With 90 percent of our foreign exchange derived from oil and Gas, stopping government funding of the forex market was bound to lead to massive devaluation as witnessed. Our collective patrimony is not only meant to fund the political class but to stimulate the economy and abundance of life to the greatest number of citizens. This is the Afenifere standard of governance.

“The problems inherited from the Buhari administration have been compounded by the inept management of the economy by the Tinubu administration, following the example of their predecessor by spending recklessly while looking for loans and additional taxes to fund the profligacy.

“Tinubu’s administration in Lagos State is credited for a hyped increasing Internally Generated Revenue that never translated into the development of the kind of infrastructure built by the Jakande administration.

“Unfortunately it appears that President Tinubu is still possessed by this mindset of taxing the poor to transfer to the privileged especially cronies. We are being inundated with all sorts of hare-brained tax schemes like communication, cyber security taxes etc and even once toyed with mandating grossly underfunded universities to remit to the Government purse a percent of their earnings.

“At the end of the first year of Tinubu’s administration, the question is whether our continued arrested economic development is due to corruption or incompetence.

“From failure to mine and refine crude oil to unjustified loans, and excessive cost of governance, it is the people that are made to suffer the tragic consequences.”

This economic dispensation of Monkey dey work, baboon dey chop must be halted before the sociopolitical fabric of Nigeria is destroyed beyond repair.”

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) says plans have been concluded for the inauguration of its compressed natural gas (CNG) conversion, filling, reverse engineering, and training centre, in Abuja.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, Khalil Halilu, executive vice-chairman of NASENI, said President Bola Tinubu will inaugurate the facility on May 31.

He said NASENI is dedicated to supporting the federal government’s ‘renewed hope’ agenda, specifically regarding sustainable energy alternatives and a clean energy ecosystem.

Halilu said the NASENI-Portland CNG conversion and training centre was established in partnership with Portland Gas Limited.

“It is a state-of-the-art facility for the conversion of fossil fuel vehicles to CNG, a cleaner and more cost-effective alternative,” Halilu said.

Halilu said the centre, equipped with the latest technology and staffed by highly skilled professionals, would ensure efficient and safe conversions that would enhance local capacity in CNG technology.

He said the facility would also offer thorough training programmes for technicians, engineers, and other stakeholders — fostering the domestication of expertise in CNG systems and promoting the adoption of green energy solutions across the nation.

The executive vice-chairman said the establishment of the centre would mark a transformative moment for Nigeria’s energy sector.

He said the CNG centre demonstrates NASENI’s unwavering commitment to sustainable innovation and the development of home-grown technological and manufacturing capacity.

“At NASENI, we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and providing affordable, eco-friendly fuel alternatives to Nigerians,” Halilu said.

“The initiative is expected to significantly reduce vehicular emissions, contributing to cleaner air and a healthier environment.”

He said the adoption of CNG would boost economic benefits by lowering fuel costs for consumers and creating new job opportunities in Nigeria’s green energy sector.

…Presents First Year’s Scorecard

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has revealed that his administration inherited 34 uncompleted projects, valued at over N225.279billion spread across 13 local government areas of the State.

The Governor also disclosed that under his watch, the Rivers State Government has awarded nine new road projects, valued at N534.332billion.

This is even as he described as vicious and existential in nature, the political crisis that was waged against his administration, barely three months after take off on May 29, 2023.

The Governor, however, said that the worst was over because his administration has successfully defended the rights and privileges to govern the State and advance its progress in liberty and freedom without compromise.

Governor Fubara said these while presenting an Account of Stewardship and Scorecard to mark One Year Anniversary of his administration at Dr Obi Wali International Conference Centre in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

The Governor said: “We started this journey with a bang. We were focused. We were determined to make the change we promised with a sense of urgency.

“But then, somehow, we suddenly found ourselves in the cesspit of crisis barely three months into our tenure. It was not just an ordinary political crisis. It was a vicious existential crisis.

“But thank goodness, the worst is over. We have successfully defended our rights and opportunity to govern our State and advance its progress in freedom, and we will continue to prevail.”

Governor Fubara stated that since then, a lot has changed in the political landscape, adding that he remains committed to the covenant taken a year ago to put Rivers State first, defend her interest, and ensure that the people get the dividends of democracy and good governance.

He said, “For us, any government worth its name must be accountable, responsive, and responsible for the security and well-being of the people.

“Having managed the affairs of our State for one year, including dispensing public resources, it is only proper that we render account with a public presentation of our performance record.

“I am, therefore, pleased to stand before you to present our Scorecard for the first year we have been in office as the Executive arm of the Government of Rivers State.”

Governor Fubara reflected on his promise to deliver on the core priorities of economic growth, infrastructure, healthcare, education, and agriculture, as contained in his Blueprint as a resolve to building a virile, resilient, and progressive State that caters to the needs of the people.

The Governor said, he was proud to report that, despite the unprecedented challenges, his first one year in office has witnessed significant achievements visible to everybody.

Governor Fubara particularly said that he inherited a State, whose economy was on a declining trajectory despite its growth potentials, but within one year of his administration, the negative narrative has changed for the better.

The Governor revealed that he set up an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)/Investment Advisory Committee that he chairs to coordinate activities in the sector that has increased inflow of economic investments to the State.

He said: “We also needed to attract investments into the State and increase our internally generated revenue base as too much reliance on federal allocations was a challenge to the realisation of our development goals.

“We, therefore, set up an IGR/Investment Advisory Committee, which is helping us to navigate our course for increased economic investments and internally generated revenue to accelerate economic growth, create jobs and advance the welfare and well-being of our people.”

Governor Fubara emphasised: “Our liberalised business-friendly economic policies and programmes are boosting confidence and attracting local and international investors and investments into the State, judging by the expression of interest offers we receive every month.

The Federal Government has disbursed a total sum of N20.11bn to 402,283 beneficiaries of the N50,000 Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme.

The beneficiaries selected from the 774 local government areas received a direct payment to their bank accounts via their Bank Verification Number.

This information was disclosed in a document exclusively obtained from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment by our correspondent on Wednesday.

The scheme domiciled under the Ministry of Trade and Investment commenced on March 9, 2024, with financial grants of N50,000 without repayment obligations to eligible small business owners operating in various sectors such as trading, food services, ICT, transportation, creatives, and artisans in the 774 local government areas of the country. 

It targeted 70 per cent of women and youths, 10 per cent of people with disabilities, and 5 per cent of senior citizens, with the remaining 15 per cent distributed to other demographics.

It also said only one million out of the 3.6 million applicants for the conditional grant will be selected as recipients.

President Bola Tinubu, on October 17, 2023, launched the renewed hope conditional cash transfer to 15 million households.

The scheme was only to benefit people with nano businesses seeking to expand and be willing to formally register their businesses and hire at least one additional person as their turnover increases.

The ministry, in a Frequently Asked Questions and Answers said “Disbursements aren’t based on any specific criteria, but in the order, applications are verified. The goal is to reach an estimated 1,290 beneficiaries per LGA across the country, totalling one million.

“Disbursement is also subject to verification of NIN, which became mandatory after the initial application phase and required only BVN. The selection is random, without human intervention, from those who have passed their NIN and BVN verification.”

The trade minister, Doris Aniete, also stated that the objective is to distribute funds to an estimated 1,290 beneficiaries per local government area across the country.

However, a list containing the number of recipients showed that individuals in all LGAs received the funds but not in equal numbers.

The list didn’t contain personal details and contacts of individuals who benefitted from the programme and is as of May 29, 2024.

A breakdown of the document showed that Katsina LGA in Katsina State got the highest allocation with 1,048 beneficiaries while Omuma LGA got the lowest with 85 recipients.

A summary of the top ten receiving LGAs includes Gusau LGA in Zamfara State (977), Omala in Kogi State with 921 recipients, Shiroro LGA in Niger State (911), Owerri North in Imo State (897), Konshisha LGA in Benue State (890), Calabar South in Cross Rivers State (881), Anka LGA in Zamfara State (876), Balanga LGA in Gombe State (873) and Kaltungo LGA in Gombe State (862).

While the lowest 10 receiving LGAs include Olorunsogo LGA in Oyo State (85), Etsako Central in Edo State (86), Ogu/Bolo in Rivers State (98), Opobo/Nkoro in Rivers State (103), Owen West in Edo State (104), Ovia South-West in Edo State (110), Jere in Borno State with 116 recipients, Degema in Rivers State (146), Ogun Waterside in Ogun State (159), Ogo Oluwa in Oyo state (160).

Recall that the minister had earlier indicated that disbursement was going to be staggered and in phase till completion.

Meanwhile, the trade minister confirmed that the ministry had begun examination and sorting of applications received from asset managers to establish the diaspora fund.

She said hundreds of applications were received and currently undergoing a vetting process.

The minister, speaking through her aide, Terfa Gyado, said, “On diaspora Fund, the deadline for Expressions of Interest has closed and applications are currently being vetted.

“We received applications in hundreds and from all over the world.”

When asked to confirm the specific figure, the minister said it would be announced after the sorting process, she said, “They are still sorting but it was an overwhelming response.”

The $10 billion Diaspora Fund is a government-enabled, private-sector-led initiative of the ministry to attract investment from citizens living abroad.

The fund, which would be established by private sector Fund Managers selected through a competitive bidding process, is a way of encouraging remittances, attracting investments, and facilitating philanthropic endeavours aimed at supporting various sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, healthcare, education, and entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

The government had extended the date for the submission of an Expression of Interest for the fund to May 13, 2024.

The naira appreciated to N1,490 against the dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday.

The current FX rate signifies an increase of 2 percent relative to the N1,520 reported on May 27.

Currency traders in Lagos, also known bureau de change operators, quoted the buying price of the greenback at N1,460, and the selling rate at N1,490 — leaving a profit margin of N30.

At the official window, the local currency depreciated by 13.26 percent against the dollar from N1,173.88/$ on May 28 to close at N1,329.65 on Wednesday.

During trading hours, the exchange rate recorded a high of N1,506 and a low of N1,010, according to FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the official FX trading in Nigeria.

The daily foreign exchange market turnover stood at $336.54 million.

On May 22, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released the approved guidelines for BDC operations in the country.

The apex bank raised the capital requirement for tier-1 BDC operators from N35 million to N2 billion, while tier-2 operators were mandated to have a capital base of N500 million.

On May 28, the Association of Bureau De Change Operators (ABCON) urged the CBN to review the minimum capital base for tier-1 operators to N500 million and tier-2 operators to N100 million.

Aminu Gwadabe, president of ABCON, said the capital requirement should be reviewed to allow for easy mergers among BDCs.

“For the N2 billion capital base — for those that want to have branches or franchise — we told them (CBN) we are proposing between N500 million and N1 billion,” he said.

Gwadabe also urged the apex bank to allow BDCs to recapitalise instead of reapplying for licences.

The management of the National Medical Services Laboratories in Pennsylvania, United States of America, has refuted the claim by the Lagos State Government that a toxicology test to ascertain the cause of the death of singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, was conducted at its facility.

The claim by the NMS Labs was in response to inquiries made by our correspondent, who embarked on a fact-finding mission to ascertain the musician’s cause of death.

Before embarking on the fact-finding mission, some concerned members of the public reportedly protested against the claim made by a pathologist, who appeared before the Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, May 15, and said an autopsy could not ascertain Mohbad’s cause of death because his corpse had decomposed.

PUNCH Metro had reported that the counsel for the state government, O. Akinde, told the Coroner’s Court sitting in the Ikorodu area of the state sometime in November 2023 that a toxicology test, which is an aspect of an autopsy seeking to determine the cause of Mohbad’s death, was conducted in the United States.

Buttressing this claim, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, while responding to inquiries via a live telephone call with Ahmad Isah, the anchor of an Abuja-based online programme, Brekete Family, sometime in February 2024, said the toxicology test was being conducted at the NMS Labs in Pennsylvania, USA.

“The matter is being handled by the state DNA and Forensic Centre, but they are doing skeletal services, and they have affiliate centres which are three.

“So, if there is an emergency like this one that we have, they will not say they cannot handle it. So, there are three of them in the US and the one handling this particular one is the NMS in Pennsylvania, USA,” Omotoso said during the live programme.

The result of the test reportedly arrived in Nigeria sometime in April 2024 and was passed on to a pathologist for interpretation.

Appearing before the coroner’s court, the pathologist disclosed that the autopsy could not ascertain the cause of Mohbad’s death because the corpse had decomposed.

However, during the fact-finding mission, our correspondent independently verified the location of the NMS Labs on 3701 Welsh Road Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, and that of two NMS crime labs on Stratford Avenue, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, and another at Grand Prairie in Texas.

The single e-mail address that these labs had been using for correspondence was also discovered on the NMS Labs’ website and our correspondent sent an inquiry to confirm if a toxicology test to ascertain Mohbad’s death was conducted at their facility.

The inquiry read in part, “I am a journalist from Punch Newspaper in Nigeria, currently working on a story involving the death of Nigerian hip-hop artiste, Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad.

“Following the Lagos State Government’s active interest in the case, the state Commissioner for Information revealed that the government conducted a toxicology test on the late artiste at your facility. Here is the link where he said so at 32:21 (https://youtu.be/SW59DTJZV3I?si=ty0OaXJSTvfuC4Oz).

“However, conflicting reports have emerged, casting doubt on whether or not the toxicology test indeed took place at your facility. As a journalist committed to factual reporting, I am independently reaching out to your facility to verify the authenticity of this claim. Clarification on this matter will contribute significantly to resolving the discrepancies surrounding the artist’s demise.”

Responding to PUNCH Metro on May 17, the Client Services Associate, Forensics Division, NMS Labs, Esther Dede, refuted the claim by the state government that Mohbad’s toxicology test was conducted at any of their laboratories.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a case for that patient,” Dede said.

Dede, however, noted, “To maintain our compliance with HIPAA privacy regulations, we would need authorisation from the submitting agency.”

When contacted on Wednesday, the Commissioner for Information, Omotoso, said that was the name of the lab given to him by the state DNA and Forensic Centre.

“This was what I was told by the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre officials who took the sample there. We are dealing with the officials of the centre, they have three other labs that they have affiliations with. If they have an emergency, they can go to any of the three labs. I asked which particular one did they go to and they answered it was that one. That means I will have to go and check again because that was what I was told.”

Mohbad died at the age of 27, on September 12, 2023, with circumstances surrounding his death sparking controversies on social media.

Being a former record label signee of Marlian Music owned by Naira Marley, Mohbad left the label in February 2022. The Lagos State Police Command had on September 18, 2023, inaugurated a 13-man special investigation team to probe the singer’s death.

His death also led to the arrest of Naira Marley and controversial Lagos socialite, Balogun Eletu, also known as Sam Larry, amongst others.

The singer’s body was on September 21, 2023, exhumed for autopsy to unravel the cause of his death.