Gospel musician Mercy Chinwo on Saturday broke her silence on the ongoing battle with her former manager, Ezekiel ThankGod, aka Eezeetee. She released a statement on Instagram, signed by her lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi.
The statement clarified that Mercy did not initiate any legal action against Eezeetee concerning her music catalog and emphasized that she has never claimed that a 50/50 revenue split from her DSP earnings is unfair.
Mercy explained that her relationship with Eezeetee began when she worked as his backup singer in Port Harcourt. In 2017, they formalized their collaboration with a contract, and her song “Excess Love,” released that same year, became a major success.
She continued that it became necessary to relocate to Lagos in 2018, and the team made the move. Mercy also revealed that she played a role in singer Judikay joining the organization in early 2019.
However, by the end of 2019, things began to change, and by 2020, the situation escalated. Mercy said her contract expired in 2022 and accused Eezeetee of fraudulently obtaining a new contract in 2019. This contract, she claimed, was made to appear as though it was the same one signed in 2017, though it was actually a new 25-page document. The new contract, according to Mercy, granted Eezeetee lifetime ownership of all her music works and was designed in a way that would perpetually keep her in servitude.
Mercy mentioned that there were several attempts at reconciliation, including an intervention by Apostle Anselm Madubuko, but none of these efforts were successful.
The 34-year-old singer further revealed that during an EFCC investigation in 2024, Eezeetee admitted to withholding $274,000 in revenue from digital platforms, which was later peacefully recovered. She said that during this investigation, Eezeetee also confessed for the first time that he had tried to manipulate her with a different contract, which he had hoped to use to control her.
Mercy shared that Eezeetee pleaded tearfully for the matter to be settled amicably. However, despite this plea, he later turned around and filed a lawsuit against Mercy, Judikay, and the EFCC. In response, the EFCC charged him with fraud and issued a warrant for his arrest, although it was later withdrawn after his lawyer intervened.
