Tunde Kelani, a renowned Nigerian film producer, has responded to allegations of cheating made against him by popular Yoruba actor Kareem Adepoju, professionally known as Baba Wande.
As previously reported by Gossipinfo, Baba Wande accused Kelani of withholding his rightful share from the earnings of the 1993 blockbuster movie “Ti Oluwa ni Ile.” Kelani has now addressed these accusations.
He said the filmmaker did not stick to the 30/70 % agreement between them.
Get Instantly Update By: Joining Our Whatapps and Telegram Channel
However, Kilani has come out to reply him saying the actor was not accusing him, but saying he didn’t get enough from the movie’s proceeds.
Kilani, as gathered from Freedom Online said “He was not accusing me. I think he was stating his own case and complaining about a project that happened years ago. I think he is not saying that I didn’t pay him; he is probably saying that the money was not enough. When I heard that, I asked the office to start dusting some papers and I think they found some vouchers, at least we are still looking for a long record.
“But, the vouchers they found already showed that he was paid over N300,000 that time. You know the film has a short lifespan and I cannot understand why Baba Wande keeps harassing me over something that happened years ago. If he thinks that the films are selling as he thinks, I can give him the right to produce, if that would solve the problem.
“It is painful that he didn’t even care whether we made our money from it or not. Even after all that experience, I took him to the Benin Republic to take part in Abeni and I always paid him whatever he demanded. Again, I invited him to play in Arugba. He doesn’t remember all those ones, but he can only remember bad things about me.
“In spite of the relative success of the Ti Oluwa Ni Ile project, he doesn’t seem to see anything good in it and in me. It is very strange. I think it is a deliberate effort to blackmail me. I think he is broke, but I am broke too; we are all broke and that is the reality. This is why I refused to reply him instantly, because it won’t be good for the Yoruba race. I don’t know who is older; he would be probably older than me, because I just turned 70. I don’t expect him to be saying all that on the pages of a newspaper.
“I cannot do that, because I will be insulting the institutions of our traditional rulers and all eminent Nigerians. I think it is a very simple case that can be resolved. He is also not bothered what I went through when all my works, including the films, were pirated. I almost died when it happened. It pains me a lot anytime Baba Wande refers to that issue. I have various pirated copies of my works in my Lagos office. I would say that he is entitled to his opinion on the things he said about me.