A Federal High Court in Lagos will on April 22, decide whether the Federal Government can extradite fuji music producer Alagbada Lateef to America over drug-related charges.
Justice Muslim Hassan remanded the music promoter in Interpol custody on Friday pending ruling.
The judge made the order after taking arguments from the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF)’s counsel, Akutah Ukeyima and Lateef’s counsel Dr. Babatunde Oni.
The AGF is seeking to send Lateef popularly called Lati Alagbada, abroad to face two counts of conspiracy to distribute, possess and import one kilogramme of heroine.
At the commencement of proceedings, Ukeyima moved an application for Alagbada’s extradition.
He drew the court’s attention to a Certified True Copy (CTC) of a warrant for Lateef’s arrest, in case No. 17-CR-227-JMV, issued on June 15, 2017, by a United States District Court of New Jersey.
But Dr Oni opposed him.
He prayed the court to strike out the application for lacking in merit.
Oni told the judge to discountenance the AGF’s application on the ground that the Saudi Arabian government detained his client for six months on the same allegations, but freed him for want of evidence of drug dealing.
He said in 2017 after the alleged offence was committed, his client applied for a United States visa but was denied.
Oni contended that if the US government was truly after Lateef, it would have approved his visa so that he could be apprehended in America to face his trial.