P&ID Case: I Am Ready To Meet You In Court – Seun Kuti Tells Ayorinde

Afrobeats musician, Seun Kuti has said that he is ready to meet Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Bolaji Ayorinde over the libel and defamation of character suit instituted against him.

Naija News understands that Ayorinde had instituted a libel and defamation of character suit against Kuti over his comment on the Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited case.

Ayorinde had debunked the claim by Kuti that as a principal partner in the P&ID case, representing Nigeria, he intentionally leaked documents to the company against the country.

However, Kuti, in a press briefing on Wednesday in Lagos, denied ever committing any libel or defamation of character against Ayorinde.

He insisted that he only read out the judgment of Justice Robin Knowles of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, which ruled in favour of Nigeria in the enforcement of a $11 billion P&ID arbitration award in his social media handle.

He expressed surprise that Ayorinde could sue him for defamation of character and libel when the 140-page court judgment was already in the public domain.

Kuti also wondered why Ayorinde could sue him in Oyo State when both parties involved in the case are residents of Lagos.

He further emphasised that he received a Nigeria Police invitation on the matter, which he intended to honour on Thursday.

The case, according to Kuti, is expected to come up for hearing in Oyo State on January 24, 2024.

He said: “This is the first of its kind in the world. This case caused serious arbitration system in the United Kingdom, but didn’t make much impact in Nigeria. No one is talking about it. Nigerians must know that we are all children of sacrifice and we need to speak out on behalf of our people.

“What I did in the entire case is to read out the judgment as delivered by the UK court. I read the entire 140 pages of the judgment and whatever I said emanated from the judgment. But, Ayorinde who represented Nigeria in the case has taken me to court for libel and defamation of character. He also reported me to the police.

“The Nigeria Police is not an attack dog of anyone and I stand by the things I have said on the case. I am ready to meet him in the court.”