Nigerian singer David Adeleke, known professionally as Davido, has been sued in a United States federal court for allegedly breaching a settlement agreement valued at $45000.
The case was filed at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The plaintiffs, identified as Martins Chukwuka Emmanuel Abel Great Umaru Kelvin Ayodele Campbell and David Ovhioghena Umaru, accused Davido and others of infringing on the intellectual property of their 2022 track titled Work.
According to the legal filing, the plaintiffs submitted the song to Davido in January 2022 during initial talks for a possible collaboration.
The group alleged that Davido failed to pursue the collaboration and instead allowed elements of the song to be used without consent.
The track in question Strawberry on Ice was released in 2024 and featured artist Emmerson Amidu Bockarie. Other defendants include Carlos Jenkins Matthew Quinney Marques Miles II and music publisher Wynn Records.
Court documents revealed that following initial complaints, Davido entered into a private agreement with the group on March 14, 2025, to settle the matter out of court.
The terms included a one-time payment of $45000 and the assignment of 40 percent of the song’s composition royalties and 20 percent of the sound recording royalties to the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs claimed Davido failed to make the payment by the agreed deadline of March 24 2025. As a result the lawsuit was formally filed on April 4 2025 with the plaintiffs demanding enforcement of the agreement and additional damages.
The reliefs sought include a $150000 compensation order, a court directive to transfer 40 percent of the compositional rights and 20 percent of the master rights to the plaintiffs and an injunction preventing further use of the disputed work without authorization.
As of the time of reporting, Davido has not issued a public response. Wynn Records also declined to comment.
The matter is scheduled to proceed in New York, where the court has given Davido 21 days to respond to the claims.
