Former President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, has taken legal action against the popular afrobeat musician, David Adeleke, widely known as Davido.
Pinnick has accused Davido of cyberbullying and defamation of character in response to incendiary social media posts made by the artist in October. As a result of these posts, Pinnick claims that he and his immediate family have been exposed to grave danger and physical harm, increasing the potential for attacks.
The legal action stems from a series of altercations between the two parties in October, triggered by Davido’s failure to fulfill a paid performance commitment.
A recent inquiry conducted by PREMIUM TIMES shed light on the circumstances surrounding an agreement signed between Davido’s company and BrownHill Event Inc, a company owned by Mr. Amaju Pinnick. This agreement, inked on 30 March 2023, mandated the musician to perform at an event in Warri on 6 October.
The contract, signed by the musician’s agent, Soso Soberekon, stipulated that Davido would deliver a performance lasting a minimum of “55 or 60 minutes.” Victor Wokocha represented Brownhill at the signing, with Cecil Bekederemo serving as a witness to the agreement.
Unfortunately, the 30-year-old musician was conspicuously absent from the Warri event as he had already scheduled another performance in Melbourne, Australia, for the same date, 6 October.
Following Davido’s non-appearance at the Warri event, Mr. Pinnick addressed the disappointed attendees and offered his apologies. He clarified that all contractual requirements and payments to ensure the artist’s presence were diligently fulfilled, yet Davido did not fulfill his commitment.
In response to Mr. Pinnick’s explanations, Davido took to various social media platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat, and X (formerly known as Twitter), to share multiple posts expressing his reaction to the situation.
In one post on Instagram, Davido said: “If I am returning any money, I will return it to any football charity organisation. In Fact, I will double it. Mr Dream Crusher imagine how many Nigerian footballers have had their dreams crushed because a person wants to live for Ikoyi by force,” he said, allegedly referring to Mr Pinnick, who served as the president of NFF for eight years.
In another post, the musician responded to a video saying, “The man that dropped from the RR is Amaju Pinnick. He was NFF president for just eight years. He was charged for allegedly misappropriating $8.4 million paid by FIFA to NFF. I won’t mention allegations of unpaid allowances by players when he was the president. Let’s play a game.”
Mr Pinnick told a high court that these statements by Davido implied that the “former NFF president is a thief and is only able to live in Ikoyi because he crushed the dreams of several Nigerian footballers.”
“These defamatory publications and posts made by the artist when accorded their ordinary meaning portray me as a person deficient in character and integrity but also imbued with deceit, dishonesty, immoral, and fraudulent in the eyes of the right thinking members of the society,” he added.
The former NFF president went on to say due to the wide influence Davido has on social media, the singer has now subjected him to all forms of “cyberbullying, stalking, and harassment since the defamatory and incendiary posts.”
Mr Pinnick added that the singer posted the statements with the “aim of lowering the esteem of his person in the eyes of ordinary persons and generally bringing him to ridicule, derision and opprobrium.”
Why I wanted Davido to headline Warri Again show
According to court documents reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr. Pinnick stated that in early 2023, Davido approached him seeking his services for the 19th edition of the “Warri Again” event scheduled for October 6, 2023.
Despite his reservations due to past disappointments, Mr. Pinnick eventually decided to give Davido another chance, believing the musician had changed. His company, Brownhill Company Limited, entered into a performance agreement with Davido as the headline artist for the 19th edition of Warri Again.
They invested considerable resources in print and social media advertisements for the event, anticipating Davido’s participation.
“Unfortunately, to the utmost humiliation and detriment of myself and my company, the artist willfully failed, neglected and refused to show up, attend and perform at the 19th edition of Warri Again,” Mr Pinnick said.
Davido, who first gained prominence in 2011, claimed that he had communicated to the event organizers several months in advance, informing them that he would not be available for the performance.
He expressed disappointment that they had proceeded to promote the event using his name despite his prior notification.
Mr Pinnick told the court that “this statement is entirely false as Davido and his team never communicated or related such information to us.” Mr Pinnick said the singer did not even reply to a reminder letter sent to him on 29 September, a week before the concert.
Instead, he said, the singer posted allegations that made him “suffer and endured severe irreparable reputational damages.”
Given this context, Mr. Pinnick has requested the court to mandate Davido to issue an APOLOGY on his “personal social media handles and in two national dailies” for four consecutive days regarding the defamatory remarks made about him.
He also seeks a court order to prevent Davido or any of his representatives from disseminating false, malicious, and unsubstantiated allegations against him.
Court documents indicate that a federal high court has authorized Mr. Pinnick to serve Davido with a writ of summons, statement of claim, accompanying documents, and a Motion of Notice for an Interlocutory injunction.
The court further mandated that Davido refrain from posting, creating, or publishing any defamatory, derogatory, calumnious, or incendiary statements, stories, allegations, or narratives about or against Mr. Pinnick until the motion on notice is heard and resolved. The motion on notice is scheduled for November 23 in a high court located in Delta State.
Davido was sued by Brownhill Event
Furthermore, Brownhill Event Centre has taken legal action against Davido, alleging that he breached the contract agreement. The group highlighted that the artist had previously disappointed them in the 2014 and 2019 editions of the “Warri Again” event by not showing up for his performance despite receiving payment, resulting in refunds.
They assert that Davido has a history of reneging on contracts, not fulfilling his commitments, engaging in cyberbullying, harassment, and threats when called out for his actions.
Brownhill Event Centre has asked the court to issue orders directing Davido to refund the N70 million paid for his performance at the 19th edition of the Warri Again event held on October 6. They also seek a court order for Davido to refund the $18,000 paid for chartering a private jet for his transportation to the event in Warri.
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