The Federal High Court, Lagos Division, has given an interim order to freeze bank accounts linked to Iroko TV boss Jason Njoku amid a legal battle with Cote Ouest Audiovisuel Maurice, an independent global audiovisual company headquartered in Mauritius.
Judge L.A. Okunnu gave the order while ruling on an ex parte motion dated March 21, 2024, and filed on behalf of the Mauritius company over an unresolved contractual issue with Mr Njoku and his company.
The company (claimants) noted it entered two separate licence agreements with Mr Njoku’s Iroko TV, granting his company non-exclusive rights to broadcast five telenovelas, including Caribbean Flowers, Juanita is Single, Now Generation, Seize the Day and Hidden Truth, both amounting to $141,500.
The claimants further claimed Mr Njoku refused to honour the licence agreements, leading to a settlement of $68780 to be paid in instruments from October 7, 2023, to February 7, 2025.
“A Garnishee Order Nisi is hereby made to the effect that sums of money which stand to the credit of the judgement debtors be and hereby attached to satisfy the judgement debt yet unpaid — the sum of USD 68780…or its equivalent in Naira as well as the administrative costs of these garnishee proceedings,” the order stated.
In 2019, IROKOtv, an online video-on-demand platform, announced the successful sale of her incubated media assets ‘ROK Group’ (‘ROK Studios’, ‘ROK1–3 on DStv/GOtv’ and ‘ROK on SKY’) to Canal Plus, a subsidiary of Canal+Group with the majority stake in Côte Ouest Audiovisuel, for an undisclosed amount. The new acquisition comprised ROK’s production, content distribution and publishing channels.
Although the acquisition came as Canal+Group looked to strengthen its content production reach in Nigeria and across Africa, Mr Njoku clarified that Canal Plus only acquired IROKO Ltd shares in the ROK Group, noting his wife, Mary Njoku, still retained her stake.
Meanwhile, many speculated that Iroko TV underwent a discreet acquisition that year, alleging Mr Njoku embarked on an extravagant globetrotting adventure which affected the running of the company.
Mr Njoku, however, denied allegations of IROKOtv’s death, saying the company is undergoing a much-needed transition.
“Irokotv dead? We can all agree that 2023 has been a nightmare. For me, it’s been unusually brutal as I have spent considerable time dealing with debt restructuring, cost reductions and completing the three-year turnaround of Iroko,” Mr Njoku tweeted.
Canal Plus and Mr Njoku did not return requests seeking comments on the case.