After months of tension, illegalities, targeted falsehoods, and a coordinated campaign to hijack the Performing Musicians Employers’ Association of Nigeria (PMAN), the crisis has taken a new twist as investigations by the Nigeria Police Force have cleared the National President, Mr Pretty Okafor of any wrongdoing.
A copy of the True Certified Copy (CTC) of the Police Investigation Report, which was released and made available to the media on Wednesday, June 11, during a press conference at the PMAN National Secretariat (Music House) in Lekki, Lagos to set the records straight in the allegations leveled against Okafor, he stated that the final police investigation report has exonerated him of all allegations, including financial misconduct, forgery, and breach of the PMAN constitution, contrary to sponsored reports in some section of the media by some members of the National Working Committee (NWC).
The report revealed a plot by some members of the NWC —Sunny Neji (1st Vice President), Zakky Azzay (2nd Vice President), and Michael Stephen (Ruggedman) Ex-Officio— to “topple the legitimate leadership and hijack PMAN’s assets.”
According to Okafor, while Nneji, Azzay and Ruggedman were suspended by the National Executive Council (NEC) for openly collaborating with the illegitimate Lobby D PMAN, effectively vacating their positions, they in concert with the General Secretary, Boniface Itodo, and the Assistant General Secretary, Faga Bem-Paul (dismissed and paid three-month salary in lieu), initiated a campaign of calumny against him, issuing a query and purporting to suspend him without following due process.
“Without just cause, and while I was overseas in Spain on official PMAN duty, certain members of the then National Working Committee (NWC), in flagrant violation of the PMAN Constitution, initiated a campaign of calumny against me.
“They issued me a query and purportedly suspended me without following due process. They ignored Article 13(C)(i)–(iv), which clearly outlines that only the National Executive Council (NEC), through a duly appointed National Disciplinary Committee, can take such action after a fair hearing,” Okafor said.
“This constitutional safeguard was thrown to the wind. Instead, they proceeded on their unlawful path — issuing an indefinite suspension that violates Article 18(B) of our Constitution and publicly pronouncing me guilty of unfounded criminal accusations.
“What these individuals did not anticipate was the swift and constitutional response of the National Executive Council (NEC), which immediately restored order, reversed their illegal actions, and suspended or dismissed those involved in this treasonous act,” he added.
Okafor further stated that “It must be said — if there is anyone whose hands are dirty, it is those Accusers whose hands are dirty and stained with lies, manipulation, impersonation, and criminal deceit – not me!”
He emphasized that a consent judgment obtained by the suspended and dismissed members of the Association, in collaboration with Inspector Caleb Samuel of the Force Investigation
Department (who is currently undergoing police investigation) acting in concert with Hemmed Alfa, a court clerk in Upper Sharia Court III, Minna, Niger State, is a legal nullity, built on deceit, impersonation, and forum shopping.
The police investigation also uncovered shocking abuse of court processes, including the forgery of a Post No Debit (PND) order against his personal bank accounts. The investigation has led to the dismissal of Alfa by the Niger State Judicial Service Commission and handed over to the police for prosecution, while his co-conspirator, Inspector Caleb Samuel is currently under investigation by the Police Provost Marshal at the Force headquarters, Abuja.
The PMAN president explained that despite being suspended and dismissed, these same individuals twice broke into the PMAN National Secretariat on March 1 and 3, 2025, and have now teamed up with Fruitful Mekwunye to continue parading themselves fraudulently as the leadership of PMAN. This brazen illegality has been reported to the IGP Monitoring Unit, and arrests have already been made.
“In furtherance of their scheme, these dismissed and suspended members of PMAN, in active collaboration with Fruitful Mekwunye and George Dureke, and using them as fronts, procured a fraudulent consent judgment in Suit No.? NICN/LA/360/2024 by deceitfully making George Dureke, Fruitful Mekwunye and 12 others to sue themselves and furthermore, pretend to have resolved the dispute.
“They never served PMAN at our publicly known registered national address — instead, they served themselves using the address of the infamously discredited Lobby D, National Arts Theatre, which did not exist in PMAN’s reckoning. This speaks volumes about how far these connivers were willing to go in their desperate quest to destroy me and hijack PMAN,” Okafor stated.
He noted that the real motive for the coup was asset takeover, and not selfless service. “Let the public be informed that the true motive behind this crisis is not about selfless service to the union, but the selfish ambition of a few who seek to illegally gain control of PMAN’s assets and deplete its growing resources.
“It’s on record that PMAN had no National Secretariat it could call its own. But that changed under my administration. It’s under my leadership that PMAN acquired a befitting edifice which today stands as the National Secretariat of our great union,” the PMAN president said.
He continued: “We have also invested in state-of-the-art radio equipment to launch PMAN FM Radio — a groundbreaking innovation and the first of its kind in PMAN’s history. Furthermore, it was through my vision and efforts that the Abuja Monaco Project was initiated — an ambitious development that seeks to significantly raise PMAN’s national and global profile.
“Ironically, it is this significant achievement that attracted internal enmity. Those who conspired to remove this leadership were motivated by greed, not reform. To protect PMAN from such destructive motives in the future, the National Executive Council (NEC), in a physical meeting held in Abuja on March16, 2025, resolved to establish an Asset Management Company.
“This entity is mandated to safeguard PMAN’s properties and investments, and ensure that no person or group can fraudulently or violently appropriate what belongs to the union and its members.”
The PMAN leader alleged that Mr. Olufemi Olumeyan of Olusco Heritage and Investment Limited —the person who was supposed to be the developer for the Monaco Project— but currently under criminal investigation for fraudulent activities involving the PMAN Monaco Project, allegedly sponsored all these distractions and crises in the union.
He noted that Olumeyan through his company —Olusco Heritage and Investment Limited: sold units in a project whose Joint Venture Agreement has not come into force; entered into another development contract in respect of the Monaco Project without PMAN’s knowledge or authorization; received ₦350 million from a third-party without paying PMAN’s balance of the agreed Premium that would have brought the JVA into force, and allegedly used the project as a conduit for illicit financial flows – possibly involving terrorists, kidnappers or money launderers.
“In addition to these criminal infractions, the same developer allegedly used the Monaco Project to defraud an engineering and building construction company. After receiving ₦350 million as part of a premium payment, and with the company having committed over ₦1.5 billion to site work and other associated developments, the developer shockingly denied entering into any such contract and disclaimed signing the agreement,” Okafor said.
He added that a forensic investigation by the Nigeria Police Force has confirmed that the contract was indeed signed by Olusco. He assured that the Association will pursue all legal avenues to bring impostors, saboteurs, and sponsors of the evil agenda to justice.