The gospel music community has welcomed the on-going peace talks towards settling their long-standing royalty dispute between gospel singer Mercy Nnenda Chinwo, known professionally as Mercy Chinwo or Mercy Chinwo-Blessed and her former record label cum management, EeZee Conceptz.
Managing Director of EeZee Conceptz Limited, Nancy Nnadi, popularly known as Coach Nancy, disclosed the path to peace in a post shared on her Instagram page @coachnancy_official on Monday, July 7 while retracting her alleged defamatory statement against the former label signee.
According to Coach Nancy, the decision to retract her earlier defamatory statements against Chinwo was made on the advice of her lawyer and for the sake of peace and love of God. She also revealed that respected religious leaders, referred to as the “Fathers of Faith,” are mediating the settlement process between Chinwo and EeZee Conceptz.
“On the advice of my lawyer, and for the sake of peace and love of God, I retract my earlier post about Minister Mercy Chinwo. As well pray that Almighty God perfects the ongoing settlement process being facilitated by the Fathers of Faith between her and EeZee Conceptz,” she wrote.
Recall that the controversy began in January this year when Chinwo alleged that EeZee Tee, the label’s founder, had diverted $345,000 in music royalties. This claim came two years after the Give Me Chance, We Move, and Amazing God crooner among hits parted ways with the label due to financial disagreements.
Chinwo had through her legal representatives, Law Corridor, filed a civil and criminal defamation case against Nancy Nnadi for making false accusations against her in Suit No. GWD/CV/40/25 and Case No. CR/150/2025.
In a statement signed and issued on Tuesday, July 8 by Mr Emmanuel Omaga, Associate Partner and Practice Group Head, Tech, IP, Entertainment, Media & Sports Law, Law Corridor, the law firm expressed satisfaction with the resolution.
“We acknowledge and welcome the public retraction issued by Ms. Nancy Nnadi a.k.a. Coach Nancy, Managing Director of EeZee Conceptz Limited, regarding the defamatory statements previously made against Minister Mercy Chinwo Blessed.
“We are pleased that the matter has been resolved with full compliance, including the deletion of the defamatory content and a formal public retraction,” the statement read.
The law firm praised the lawyers for both sides, highlighting their professionalism and noting that the resolution brings the case to a close. Meanwhile, fans and followers have expressed mixed feelings about the development, hoping that the parties involved find a common ground and move forward with love and understanding. Some supported Chinwo’s right to fight for her royalties, others called for forgiveness and unity.
Reacting to the development, Intellectual Property cum Entertainment lawyer, Barrister Nobert Ajaegbu noted that record label disputes with artistes often center on revenue sharing, and oftentimes leads to artistes breaching their contract terms.
He noted that most artistes, especially budding musicians, enter into various sorts of deals with record labels, including 360 deals, where the label pays signees an advance but is entitled to profits that accrue from streaming, concerts, songwriting and publishing, endorsement, and merchandise.
“Artistes from humble backgrounds driven by desperation to meet immediate needs often sign unfavourable deals without proper legal guidance. It’s only later, when their careers blossoms that they realise they have been taken advantage of. In many cases, the artiste(s) feel trapped and seek exit routes, but contract renegotiations rarely occur.
“Since most of their hits occur during their contract term, they might deliberately underperform or cause tension until the contract expires. By the time the deal is set to end, some of them have gained enough fame that they no longer see the value in the label’s support,” Ajaegbu explained.