The Supreme Court of Nigeria has ruled in favor of Mr. Patrick Arueze in a 13-year-long breach of contract case against the famous music duo, Peter and Paul Okoye, popularly known as P-Square, and their brother Jude Okoye. The court ordered the Okoyes to pay Arueze approximately ₦25 million, alongside an additional ₦1 million as costs.
The case originated in 2011 when Arueze contracted P-Square for a performance in Benin City, but the musicians failed to show up. Feeling aggrieved, Arueze filed a breach of contract suit against the Okoyes at the Edo State High Court. In 2016, the court ruled in Arueze’s favor.
Following the judgment, the Okoyes sought to overturn the decision through a series of appeals. A motion filed on October 3, 2016, at the Edo State High Court was dismissed. They then proceeded to the Court of Appeal, Benin Division, requesting a stay of execution, but their appeal was also dismissed.
Despite issuing a cheque to settle the judgment debt, the Okoyes filed another motion at the Court of Appeal to stop the payment. This motion was deemed frivolous and dismissed.
Not satisfied, they escalated the matter to the Supreme Court, where they attempted to involve the commercial bank that issued the cheque as a party to the case—a move the opposing counsel argued was procedurally flawed.
In delivering the judgment, Justice Uwani Musa Abba-Aji affirmed the arguments of Arueze’s legal team, led by E.O. Afolabi, SAN, and Dr. Samson Osage, among others. The Supreme Court struck out the Okoyes’ application and expressed displeasure over the inclusion of the bank as a party in the suit, awarding ₦1 million as costs against the musicians.
Speaking on the ruling, Arueze’s lead counsel, Afolabi, described the legal battle as unnecessarily prolonged. He noted that despite issuing a cheque, the Okoyes had attempted to stop its payment through multiple court motions.
“They went from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court. They even joined the bank, which wasn’t a party to the suit at the lower court. The Supreme Court was not pleased and awarded costs against them,” Afolabi stated.
This judgment marks the end of a prolonged legal tussle, solidifying the responsibility of the Okoyes to fulfill the contractual obligations they breached over a decade ago.
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