A Lagos State Chief Judge has signed an order that the Writ of Summons be pasted on the wall of Dapo Oyebanjo a.k.a D’banj’s residence in Lekki, Lagos as the saga over his alleged debt issues seem to be heading towards a legal showdown.
This is contrary to prior reports making rounds that the artiste had tried to apologise to his creditors and settle out of court.
What this implies therefore is that once the writ of summons is posted, the case becomes a public case and further investigations by NET reveal that the case will formally commence hearing in Lagos on January 25, 2015 at the Multi-door Courthouse, Obalende, Lagos.
You may recall that D’banj’s debt saga was revealed recently when NET broke the news of his multiple debt mess and also reported that he may be dragged to court by a top oil and gas industry player, Henry Ojogho, Vice Chairman of Broron Group.
Ojogho, who is also the Vice Chairman of MindHub Technologies, an integrated Rice farming and milling production company, alleged that D’banj, through his company, DKM Media Limited, obtained a loan of over N60m from him in January 2013 and has not paid back the said sum despite signing an undertaking to do so.
Since the news broke three weeks ago, D’banj, who had just returned to the country on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 after spending about 3 months in the United States of America, has refused to make any comment on the issue.
His only response or reaction so far was a tweet on his social media account, which reads: ‘Silence, my response to the false rumors.’
All efforts to get D’banj to comment so far have been futile. He has been very evasive ever since the news broke, so much so that even when you run into him at events, he simply refuses to grant any interviews and makes absolutely no comments.
Before the case was taken to court, D’banj was served a warning letter by Henry Ojogho dated September 13, 2013, with the letter stating:
‘The above subject matter, our several mails, telephone conversations and meetings between you and our Vice Chairman refer.
Recall that you agreed to act as a guarantor for the payments owed to Mindhub by D Kings Men Media Limited (the company) on account of investment made by Mindhub to the company as contained in the Memorandum of Understanding dated 19th of October, 2012.
This letter constitutes a FINAL NOTICE OF DEMAND to pay the outstanding sum of USD 300,000 (Three hundred thousand Dollars) and N15m (Fifteen million Naira) immediately as outlined in your personal guarantee.
Should you fail to perform according to the executed personal guarantee within seven (7) days of receipt of this letter we shall not hesitate to exercise the legal rights and remedies available to Mindhub without further notice to you, to compel performance of the Guarantee in accordance with its terms. Further note that should we decide to exercise any of the company’s rights and remedies under the guarantee, all costs and expenses shall be fully borne by you.’
Since his return to the country mid-November, D’banj who recently became the first African ambassador for BeatsByDre has been part of virtually every major event in the country. He was the special guest at the special event where Oritsefemi’s new record label presented him with a new Range Rover Evogue.
He performed at the 2014 edition of DJ Jimmy Jatt’s Jump Off and also performed at the grand finale of the recently-concluded Big Brother Hotshots in South Africa.
