Mrs. Bernice Eriemeghe-Ashibuogwu, the General Manager and CEO of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Nigeria’s biggest copyright collective management organization, has expressed disappointment that elder musician and flutist, Tee Mac Isele, does not appear to understand the difference between a judgment and the execution of a judgment.
Speaking on the recent posting on WhatsApp by Tee Mac of a 22-page judgment obtained since March 2020 which judgment was instantly appealed, Mrs. Eriemeghe Ashibuogwu said: “By continuously posting that COSON has been struck out by CAC from the Register of Companies, Tee Mac Isele has intentionally been spreading a lie and misleading the public with the clear objective of embarrassing COSON and our thousands of members and affiliates.“Now that it has become clear to everyone that at no time was the incorporation of COSON cancelled and that in fact, COSON continues to be listed as “active” in the Register of Companies, Tee Mac cannot bring himself to atone for the lies he has spread and apologize for the deception he has engaged in.
He is doubling down by posting the 22-page judgment as if that cures his deception. If in his haste to destroy COSON, he had first sought the advice of a good lawyer, he would have been schooled on the difference between a judgment and the execution of a judgment.
“In my recent public statement, I stated that as part of a diabolical plan to cripple and strangulate COSON, a perverse judgment was obtained from a court to delist COSON from the Register of Companies. I also stated that the said judgment was immediately, solidly appealed in Appeal No: CA/LAG/CV/778/2020”. In fact, COSON filed seven strong grounds of appeal in the matter and filed a comprehensive and unassailable appellant’s brief.
“My information is that more than four years after, the people who went to court after COSON to obtained a judgment have failed to file a response to the COSON brief at the Court of Appeal. If they are confident of their judgment, you have to wonder why” The COSON GM went on to reveal that shortly after the “perverse” judgment was obtained, the lawyers representing COSON’s vilifiers rushed to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in Abuja with the judgment, to engineer the cancellation of COSON. There, they met a brick wall. In her words: “MCSN has the letter dated 9th July 2020 written by the CAC to their lawyers, a copy of which COSON has, stating emphatically that the CAC would not delist Copyright Society of Nigeria Ltd/Gte (COSON) from the Register of Companies as a result of the existing appeal. In other words, the judgment could not be executed”.Concluded Mrs. Eriemeghe-Ashibuogwu, “Now, they have resorted to spreading false propaganda because everything they have done to cripple COSON has failed. For the avoidance of doubt, COSON continues to defend the rights of our members fully. First class work continues to go on daily at the magnificent COSON House. At COSON, we remain very proud of the role we play every day to uplift the Nigerian creative industry and defend the rights of our members and affiliates across the world”.
