Gospel singer Mercy Chinwo and her former manager, Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu, wildly known as EeZee Tee, are locked in a public dispute over money, contracts, and allegations of fraud. Here’s a breakdown of everything that’s happened so far.
How it started
In 2017, Mercy Chinwo signed a 360-recording and management deal with EeZee Conceptz, a gospel record label that has managed artists like Judikay and Minister GUC. Under the label, she became a household name, releasing hits like “Excess Love,” “Chinedum,” and “Na You Dey Reign.”
But in 2022, her contract expired, and she chose not to renew it.
![](https://c7684bdb45.mjedge.net/wp-content/uploads/zikoko/2025/01/Copy-of-Z-Pop-Facebook-2-1024x538.png)
The money dispute
On January 16, 2025, the EFCC arrested EeZee Tee, alleging that he was involved in a $345,000 diversion fraud case. At the time, the details of the story were not clear. However, when he was released, he claimed that he was forced to transfer $274,000 to Chinwo while in EFCC custody. He said his accounts had been frozen. He said the EFCC held him for nine days against his will, and he made the transfer so they would release him.
He also admitted that he withheld Chinwo’s royalties from DSPs, but he said he did that because she allegedly “boycotted” the label, performed at events without informing the label and failed to remit the earnings when she was still signed to EeZee Conceptz. But he said he had already paid her over $600,000 in royalties from DSPs.
He also claimed that she still owed EeZee Conceptz one album and some singles under their agreement.
Mercy Chinwo’s response
Chinwo has denied any wrongdoing. In a video she posted on Instagram on Tuesday, January 28, she accused him of failing to pay her royalties from 2022 to 2024. She didn’t address performing behind her management’s back. She also didn’t address the $274,000 EeZee Tee said he transferred to her account.
However, she said he created a toxic work environment and restricted her collaborations, including a feature with Nathaniel Bassey (whom she later worked with on “Tobechukwu”). She said he has “bullied” and “threatened” her. She also singled out a performance at Bishop Felix Omobude’s church in Edo as evidence of this. She said that Eezee Tee didn’t want her to perform at the event, but she fought to be there. She said that he told the Bishop that she had a terminal illness and was surprised when she was picked up from the airport with medical staff on the ground.
She also said that he has been spreading rumours about her personal life, including the paternity of her child. But above all, she accused him of altering her original contract by changing the signing date from 2017 to 2019. According to Chinwo, the contract she originally signed in 2017 was later altered to reflect a 2019 signing date—something she only discovered after she said she had left the label and requested her copy of the contract.
Eezee Tee’s response
In a letter he posted, Eezee Tee denied all her allegations, calling them “false.” He said that the assertion that he altered the contract was a “lie from the pit of hell.” He said Chinwo decided not to attend the event at the Bishop’s church, but changed her mind as an excuse not to be at the birthday of a label mate.
Where do things stand now?
On January 24, the EFCC’s lawyers formally requested the withdrawal of the arrest warrant. EeZee Tee’s lawyers said in court that the EFCC had overstepped its bounds in obtaining the initial arrest order. He maintained that the issue at hand was a contractual dispute and not a criminal matter.
The case has been adjourned to February 14, 2025, for further proceedings.