Prominent gospel artiste in Nigeria, Tope Alabi, has settled her lingering legal battle with an US-based Nigeria marketer, Alhaji Tajudeen Bioku of NPC Records.
It was reliably gathered that a peace move was brokered by Tope Alabi’s lawyer, Barr. Ropo Awoyele, and sanctioned by Alhaji Bioku’s lawyer, Barr. Bolaji Mustapha. At the meeting, it was revealed to us that Tope Alabi did not only apologize to the marketer, but also paid an undisclosed amount of money to him, which we gathered ran into millions of naira.
A witness informed us that, ‘We’re not privy to the exact amount, but we know that Tope Alabi paid him (Bioku) penalty that was in the neighbourhood of millions of naira.’
Nigeriafilms.com scooped that trouble started some years ago, when the singer allegedly failed to keep to her part of an agreement signed by the two parties.
In 2006, Tope Alabi entered into a recording agreement with NPC Records to produce two versions (Yoruba and English) of an album.
However, after releasing the Yoruba version of ‘Angeli Mi’, which became a top charter, Tope Alabi could not finish and deliver the English version as required. The English version, which was tentatively entitled “My Angel’, was never released and this reportedly forced Bioku to take action against the artiste.
The marketer took his case to the Lagos High Court and sued Tope Alabi, Pastor Biodun Ibitola and her Remdel Optimum Communication (ROC) company.
This was after he had dragged the prominent singer to the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) over this matter.
Meanwhile, and prior to this latest development, Tope Alabi’s husband, on behalf of the singer and her organization (Gospel Vibes Limited), had earlier entered into a three-year marketing deal with Bioku and his NPC Records.
In the deal, Tope Alabi’s Gospel Vibes was authorized to market nationwide, ‘Angeli Mi: Extra’, which is the newly repackaged album with three added tracks for NPC Records.
Source:Nigeriafilms.com
