Nigerian singer, Cynthia Morgan, has filed a lawsuit against her former boss, Jude Okoye.
Kemi Filani gathered that Cynthia Ikponmwenosa Morgan popularly known as Cynthia Morgan, dragged Jude Okoye to court over the culpability of her intellectual property during their time together at Northside Entertainment.
In a court document, the singer demanded a full account of income and expenditure from her intellectual property by the defendant, Northside Entertainment Limited, owned by Jude Okoye which was filed before the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos; dated November 26, 2020.
The court papers reads, “It was agreed that the compensation due to the plaintiff would be withheld by the defendant’s company until they were able to reimburse themselves for the expenses incurred in the promotion of the plaintiff.”
This indicates that the singer will not be paid till Okoye collects all the money he spent on raising her craft.
However, Cynthia Morgan insisted that since signing a contract with Okoye’s Northside Entertainment on September 25th 2013 he had given about N8.5million on her.
This covers rent payment of N1.5m; purchase of a 2012 Range Rover car worth about N6m; and car sustenance which cost N1m, excluding the cost of ten music videos (which the figure was not stated).
She further stated worry about Okoye’s accounts on the profits he alleged to have made from her intellectual property.
She added that “all her requests (for the documents) have been met with vague and ambiguous rebuttals” despite Okoye’s claim that she still owes Northside Entertainment.
However, the Bad Girl Special singer argued that she “achieved unprecedented success as Nigeria’s pioneer female dancehall artist,” which suggests that she has made more than Okoye declared and “disputes the defendant’s assertion that he has not recovered the investment outlay”; that is, how much was spent on the singer.
As such, Cynthia is demanding complete payments of any amount owed if the court finds Okoye guilty after looking through the account statements during trial.
As seen in the document, the singer further demands:
”An order mandating the defendant to furnish the plaintiff with complete accounts including but not limited to all profits, expenses, royalties under any head whatsoever, due and accruing from the contract between parties dated September 25th 2013.
A CONSEQUENTIAL ORDER directing that the Defendant pay to the PLAINTIFF, all outstanding money found to be due to her upon taking of the accounts including but not limited to royalties, fees, honoraria of any kind whatsoever from the date of the first infringement till date.”
Meanwhile, when newsmen contacted Jude Okoye for his response, he refused to comment or grant an interview, he simply said; “I am not granting interview… run anything you want to run, I’m not granting interviews, that’s all.”
