New Telegraph

Lawyer Speaks On Why Seun Kuti’s Bail Is Delayed

Adeyinka Fusika, the counsel to the detained Nigerian Afrobeats singer, Seun Kuti has revealed why the singer is still in confinement.

Fusika, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said Seun Kuti is still in custody because of a lack of “administrative approval” for the singer’s bail.

He made this known in a chat with Punch on Tuesday, stating that Seun’s bail had nothing to do with the court sitting on Tuesday.

Recall that Seun was arrested by the Police last week for assaulting a policeman, and his arrest was authorized by the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Akali Baba.

Following his arrest, a Chief Magistrate, Adeola Olatunbosun in Yaba Magistrates Court ordered the police to remand Seun in his custody pending the next hearing.

According to his lawyer, during the sitting, Seun was granted bail by the court on May 16 but was to remain in police custody for 48 hours to allow police to complete their investigation.

After the 48-hour has passed, on Thursday, May 18, the police sought to keep the singer in custody for an additional four days in order to continue their investigation.

On getting to court today, it was gathered that the judge had gone for training.

According to the lawyer, the purpose of today’s sitting was to receive the Lagos Director of Public Prosecution’s advice.

He said “The court, as you will recall, had ordered that the prosecution of the case must be by the DPP’s office and not by the police, hence, the police were also ordered to send the case file to the DPP for evaluation and decision as to prosecution.

However, Fusika said, “The court was to sit today to receive the DPP’s advice, but did not because, as we’re informed, the magistrate is attending a training course.”

He also claimed that the advice of the DPP was not ready as the police investigation team was still holding on to the case file.

“The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, however, maintained that the matter was in court and he could not say much about it.

He said, “The matter is in court already, and for that reason, we cannot talk about it, adding that an update concerning the matter will be from the head of the police legal team.

Fusika was optimistic on Tuesday about his client’s release, as he maintained that the bail had been granted already and was only awaiting “administrative approval.”

“The release of Mr Kuti on bail, as ordered by the magistrate, is only waiting for administrative approval. That process has nothing to do with whether or not the court has a physical sitting. We are hopeful that Mr Kuti will be out today on the bail granted him, having fulfilled the terms.”.

When asked what this administrative approval was all about, he said the bail warrant needed to be signed by the magistrates or any authorized person in the court.

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