Mrs Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, the wife of a renowned human rights activist and former Regional Director of Ford Foundation, the late Innocent Chukwuma, has been dragged before the Lagos State High Court, Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS).
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She was sued by an Associate Professor and Director of the Institute of African Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, Professor Nduka Otiono over an alleged breach of contract.
Joined in the legal action designated LD/10395GCMW/2023, as the second defendant is the Pan-Atlantic University.
In the suit filed by his lawyer, Chief Uche Ihediwa, SAN, the claimant is asking the court for a declaration that the first defendant breached the terms of the contract when she failed to approve the manuscript within 30 days, the biography of her late husband, titled ‘Possibilities Unlimited — A Biography of late Innocent Chukwuma’.
Professor Otiono is equally asking the court to declare the defendants’ letter dated May 8, 2023, purporting to terminate the contract between the parties as wrongful, illegal, null, and void.
While proceedings lasted, yesterday, Chief Uche C. Ihediwa, SAN, a former Abia State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice appeared for the claimant, while Uche Ego-Osuala appeared for the defendants.
In his argument before the court, presided over by Justice Olabisi Ogungbesan, Chief Ihediwa, SAN, urged the court to adjourn the suit to enable the defendants to respond to the processes filed by his client, and for the hearing of the preliminary objections filed by the defendants.
This prompted the judge, after hearing from the defence counsel, to adjourn until June 28 for the hearing of the preliminary objection.
In his statement of claims, the claimant stated that around mid-2021, the first defendant (and representatives of the Ford Foundation, West Africa) approached him, and offered him a ghost-writer proposal through a Request for Proposal document.
Professor Otiono stated that he strongly resisted the idea of offering his services as a biographer and a ghost-writer and insisted he would rather take professional fees for the work and retain his moral right as the author of the biography while the first defendant takes all the financial returns from the book as she proposed.
The claimant posited that on or about November 2021, he negotiated a contract with the defendants to write a 75–100,000 Biography of the late Innocent Chukwuma – titled ‘Possibilities Unlimited — A Biography of late Innocent Chukwuma’.
While arguing that executing the assignment involved the engagement of assistants, extensive travel within and outside Nigeria, research, and analysis of materials on the late Innocent Chukwuma’s life and times, reviewing the work of the deceased, conducting several interviews, identification of contributions to civil society, criminal justice reform, youth and women rights, among others, Professor Otiono prayed to the court to award the sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) as special and general damages in his favour.
But in their preliminary objection, the defendants urged the court to strike out the name of 2nd defendant (Pan-Atlantic University) from the suit being not a person known to the law and not capable of being sued.
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