The legal confrontation between the Kwara State Commissioner for Water Resources, Hon. Usman Yunusa Lade, and the founder of NupekoTv-Lafiagi, Tauheed Baruwa Mohammed, has taken a dramatic turn following the publisher’s remand at the Oke Kura Correctional Centre in Ilorin.
This development comes amid an ongoing N10 million civil defamation suit earlier filed by the Commissioner against the same media outfit, intensifying what observers describe as one of the most closely watched media-related cases in recent years.
According to court filings, Hon. Lade had on September 22, 2025, lodged a direct criminal complaint before a Kwara State Magistrate Court against Mr. Mohammed, accusing him of offences bordering on defamation, printing and selling of defamatory material, and criminal intimidation under the Penal Code.
The Commissioner’s legal team, led by Zulqurnain M. Ajedayo, Esq. and Abdulmalik Yusuf Bello, Esq., contends that the publication in question was “false, malicious, and deliberately intended to damage the reputation” of the Commissioner. The complaint further alleges that the defamatory content caused “grave reputational and emotional injury” to both Hon. Lade and his office.
The case traces back to a report published by Nupeko TV Lafiagi on July 28, 2024, titled “Hon. Usman Lade, Kwara Commissioner for Water Resources, Under Fire for Mismanagement and Neglect.” The article accused the Commissioner of failing to address persistent water shortages in Lafiagi and its environs while allegedly diverting his attention to agricultural interventions outside his ministerial responsibilities. It also alleged financial impropriety and incompetence.
In response, Hon. Lade has consistently maintained that the report was baseless, emphasizing that the rehabilitation of the Lafiagi Waterworks had been completed and that the accusations were politically motivated. Nevertheless, public complaints about access to potable water continue to emerge from some parts of the region.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, the court remanded the defendant, Tauheed Mohammed, at Oke Kura Correctional Centre pending further hearing, which has been adjourned until October 20, 2025. The move follows the Commissioner’s request for the court to take cognizance of the charges and compel the accused to answer for the alleged offences.