APC Is Playing With A Lawsuit – Femi Kuti

Popular singer, Femi Kuti has come out to warn APC against using Fela’s shirts without authorization.

He recently revealed this on social media, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, his family does not align with political parties in Nigeria or beyond, and they solely owns the trademark, so APC shouldn’t be trespassing.

He added that is such a move without authorization is clearly an infringement and disregard of their legal rights which will not be condoned.

His words, “‘I have seen the tweet by @APCNigeria and confirm that use of Fela’s name on the T shirts bearing the name “JAGABAN” was never authorized. The family owns the trademark and the use constitutes an infringement and disregard of our legal rights.”

“The user is advised to cease and desist and also to immediately delete this tweet. The family does not align with any political party in Nigeria or beyond. We are carefully assessing the situation and failure to comply with this demand will leave us with no other option but to explore any legal options that are available to us.”

WOW.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is a political party in Nigeria, formed on 6 February 2013 in anticipation of the 2015 elections. APC candidate Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election by almost 2.6 million votes. Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat on 31 March. This was the first time in Nigeria’s political history that an opposition political party unseated a governing party in a general election and one in which power transferred peacefully from one political party to another. In addition, the APC won the majority of seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives in the 2015 elections, though it fell shy of winning a super-majority to override the ability of the opposition People’s Democratic Party to block legislation.

Formed in February 2013, the party is the result of a merger of Nigeria’s three biggest opposition parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the new PDP – a faction of then ruling People’s Democratic Party. The resolution was signed by Tom Ikimi, who represented the ACN; Senator Annie Okonkwo on behalf of the APGA; Ibrahim Shekarau, the Chairman of ANPP’s Merger Committee; and Garba Shehu, the Chairman of CPC’s Merger Committee. Ironically, less than 2 years before the party’s historic victory in the 2015 elections, Messrs. Annie Okonkwo, Tom Ikimi and Ibrahim Shekarau resigned from the party and joined the PDP.

Prior to the formation of the APC and its victory in the 2015 elections, Muhammadu Buhari had previously contested (and subsequently lost) the Nigerian presidential elections of 2003 and 2007 as the presidential nominee of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the 2011 Nigerian presidential election as the presidential nominee of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).