By Ayo Onikoyi

In the wake of recent face-off between superstar singer, Davido and former President of NFF, Amaju Pinnick, the organiser of Warri Again concert, who accused the singer of not turning up for the event after being paid for performance, Potpourri reviews some of Nigeria’s top musicians, who had issues honouring shows they were billed to perform, particularly in 2022.

Kizz Daniel: Kizz Daniel in 2022, had issues turning up for shows he was paid to perform in. In the two times he had clashes with show promoters, he didn’t turn up for one, while turning up late for the other.

On July 7, 2022, Kizz Daniel arrived late at a show at the Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, keeping fans waiting for four hours. He eventually later arrived on stage and gave a 20-minute performance, which infuriated the crowd. Tanzania police arrested Kizz Daniel for failing to perform in the country on Sunday, August 7, 2022 at a show for which he had been paid.

The promoter of the concert, Steven Uwah, a Nigerian based in Turkey, claimed he had paid Kizz Daniel $60,000 for the show. Kizz Daniel was however released from police custody, and even performed for Tanzanians before flying back to Nigeria.

Peruzzi: In 2022, Peruzzi was alleged to have been paid N3 million in two installments for a show he didn’t show up for. His client, Mr. Udomah Daniel Idoteyin, through his lawyer, Ademola Adefolaju, demanded refunds for the breach of contract.According to a letter dated August 4, 2022 titled, ‘Breach of Contract And Obtaining By False Pre­tence the Sum of N3,000,00,00 with Sundry Expenses from Mr Udomah Daniel Idoteyin,’ the lawyer revealed that a of sum N3.67 million was expended on the show, inclusive of artiste fees, hotel and flights reservation. Peruzzi was however not reported to have reacted to the letter.

Wizkid: In December, 2022 Wizkid was accused of breaching his contractual obligation after the Nigerian superstar failed to show up for a concert in Ghana. The show titled “Wizkid Live” was billed to happen at a 40,000-capacity stadium in Accra on Saturday.Wizkid didn’t only fail to show up, he also didn’t give reasons for not showing up, an act that angered his fans, as a video shared on social media showed some of them leaving the stadium by 4 a.m. after waiting for the Nigerian superstar for over ten hours.

However, Wizkid later apologized, while explaining that his no-show for the Saturday concert was not an act of disrespect to his fans.

2baba: December seemed to be a month of artists failing to honour show contracts, as Tuface was accused by a show promoter, Whale Mouth, whose real name is Usiaphe Kevin, for failing to perform in a show he was billed to perform. The promoter also claimed that his family had received death threats over 2Baba’s absence at the concert in Delta State.

Asake: Also in December, 2022 Asake was billed to perform at a show at The Forum, Birmingham in a sold-out show which is part of his “Mr. Money with the Vibes” UK tour. Although he performed in the show, he arrived very late. Asake arrived hours later than agreed, as he didn’t show up at the event until 11 PM. He was met with boos from a section of the audience that was unhappy about the way the organizers went about the show.