Onifade Olamide, a property and family lawyer, has contended that Joseph Aloba, the father of the late music vocalist Ilerioluwa Aloba, also known as Mohbad, does not have the legal standing to request a DNA test for his grandson Liam.
There has been controversy over the paternity of Liam, the only child of the late Mohbad, following his death.
The Chief Magistrate Court in Ikorodu ordered that Wunmi, the late singer’s widow, be served with notice of the pending DNA test application through substituted methods.
Monisola Odumosu, a member of the legal team, signed a statement to the Aloba family that PUNCH Online obtained last week.
The legal team filed an application with Joseph Aloba, the late singer’s father, seeking an order to serve Wunmi by posting all originating procedures and other processes in the matter at the respondent’s last known address.
According to the statement, the legal team led by Emmanuel Oroko claimed that the sheriff attempted but failed to serve Wunmi with the court process two times.
However, during her appearance on TVC’s live chat show ‘Your View’ on Wednesday, Olamide stated that under legal regulations, once a father acknowledges a child as his own, no external person has the ability to contest the child’s paternity.
She highlighted that Mohbad had already acknowledged Liam as his biological child when he was still alive, ruling out any contestation.
She said that, given Aloba’s standing as a third party in the case, the court is unlikely to grant his request for a DNA test.
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In her words,
“Under the law, when a man and a woman are married, any child they have, there is something called ‘Presumption of Legitimacy’ meaning that the man is the child’s biological father. That is what the law says except you can now prove that the child is not the man’s.
“In this case, Mohbad during his lifetime acknowledged the child as his own. Once a man acknowledges a child, no third party can contest it. The third party who is the grandfather is a busybody because the son said this is my child until his death.
“If he goes to the court to demand DNA, the court will ask him to file an affidavit stating the reason why he wants a DNA test done and he has to give very cogent reasons. Now the person to dispute paternity must be in the proceedings. Now the person to dispute paternity is dead.“
