Princewill In Court Against Entrepreneur Over Contract Breach, Slander
A former gubernatorial candidate in Rivers State, Prince Tonye Princewill, has dragged an entrepreneur in the state to court for alleged breach of contract. He is demanding the payment of N100m in damages as well as public apology for the harm done his reputation by the business man, Chineye Egwumba.
In the statement of claims, Princewill alleged that Egwumba was contracted to undertake the printing of the burial souvenir programme for the burial of his father, but that the businessman could not meet up with the contract terms and only brought the programme after the burial had been conducted and the guests departed.
He said whereas the business man did not meet with the delivery as agreed, he chose to distribute the programmes around 3pm when he got to the venue of the burial and gave out some copies to some of the people who were at the venue, instead of the agreed 8am delivery time.
Prinncewill was equally miffed by the posture of the contractor who was mounting pressure for his balance to be paid, even though he had been given money in two tranches(the first being the initial payment before the burial date and the second after the burial), despite not being able to meet the agreed delivery time.
He told the court that Egwumba, in an effort to get his balance, decided to blackmail him in social media platforms and creating the impression before right thinking members of the society, that he was a man of questionable character.
He said: “Sometime in February on 27/11/2023, the 1st Defendant expressed interest by quoting for the contract of express production of 10,000 copies of ‘100 paged A4 burial programme with spot matt lamination and customized size,’ for the royal funeral service of the late, His Serene Majesty, King Professor T. J. T. Princewill, (the Amanyanabo of Kalabari)
scheduled to be held on 30th November, 2023, which bid was referred to the chairman of
the finance committee to deal and thereafter accepted by the committee upon 1st
Defendant’s(Egwumba) assurance that he will deliver the programme at Buguma Town by 8:00am, of the contracted date of 30th November 2023.
“On Wednesday 29/11/2023, following the 1st Defendant’s repeated calls for part-payment,
and claims that the brochure was already printed and ready for finishing and delivery, the
Claimant instructed the funeral committee, acting through its finance chairman Hon. Chief,
Dr. Eme Membre Otaji, to pay the 1st Defendant 33% of the contract sum, pursuant to
which, at 5: 43 pm of the same date, the 1st Defendant was paid the sum of N15,000,000.00
(fifteen million naira) by electronic transfer on the understanding that he will deliver the
Funeral programme at 8: 00 am.
“As he assured previously that the 10,000 copies were already printed and ready for finishing and delivery. On Thursday, 30/11/2023, the 1st Defendant did not deliver the brochure at 8:00am for the service billed to hold at 10am, and did not arrived the venue until about 3: 30 pm, when the funeral Service had already ended and guests were leaving the venue. On his arrival to the venue with an unascertained number of the Funeral programme, the 1st Defendant ordered his men to immediately start handing out the programme to the departing guests as they drove out in their cars. The Claimant shall at the trial, rely on the viral interview
dated 12/11/2024.”
“On 01/12/2023, being two days after the funeral, the 1st Defendant further dumped five
‘Ghana-must-go’ bags of an unascertained number of copies of the brochure at the
Residence of the Claimant at No. 10 Emeyal street New GRA, in Port Harcourt in his
absence.
“The 1st Defendant’s act of breach of contract utterly embarrassed not only the Claimant
who is the prince and chief mourner, but the entire Kalabari Kingdom, as the funeral of the
late King of the kingdom, proceeded without the customary funeral brochure, in the
presence of all the distinguished guests which included the (suspended) governor of Rivers State and other dignitaries from across Nigeria and overseas.
“This monumental embarrassment came despite the Claimant’s payment of the whopping
sum of N15,000,000.00 to the 1st Defendant to deliver the burial programme as contracted
to enable it be used for the funeral service, which was eventually concluded without the
programme brochure.
“After the funeral, the central burial planning committee, met with all the vendors to address
all outstanding issues. At the said meeting, the 1st Defendant pleaded with the committee
that even though he was in breach of the contract, the committee should consider his
precarious situation and assist him in any way they find possible. In consideration of his
appeal, the committee magnanimously agreed with him that he would be paid an additional
sum of eight million naira as a full and final payment for the brochures supplied after the
funeral service, which sum was later paid to him on 20/12/2023.
“Not contented with the breach of contract, the 1st Defendant proceeded on or about 12th
November, 2024, to utterly slander the claimant in an interview held on the podcast ‘Gist
City,’ aired on Kalabari TV.”
Also joined in the suit are the media platforms which Egwumba used to broadcast the alleged defamatory contents as well as their promoters.
This is coming even as the court has already struck out a separate suit filed by Egwumba against Princewill, for being procedurally defective. The case filed by Tonye Princewill is now scheduled to return to court in May, 2025, while the court has also ordered that Egwumab and the others should be served through substituted means, since they were allegedly evading service.
