Michael Ugwu has been dismissed for gross misconduct and is no longer CEO of iROKING, an iROKO Partners music streaming outfit.
According to iROKO, it came to light that, whilst under contract and salary of iROKING, Michael Ugwu set up and launched his own digital music platform, in direct competition with iROKING.
‘This is an unequivocal breach of the robust non-compete and confidentiality clause he signed when he joined the iROKO team. We will not be divulging any further details on the subject matter for legal reasons,” the firm said in a statement.
The firm said a number of the iROKING staff have also been dismissed on the grounds of gross misconduct. iROKO added that the dismissal was taken by the iROKO Management team in order to protect the intellectual property and reputation of its online music platform, as well as its artists’ work.
Roles of the Lagos iROKING team have been redistributed across the firm’s global teams in London and New York. Meanwhile those left in the company have been given a generous six weeks’ severance pay, 50% more than stated in their employee contracts.
TechMoran has established contact with the accused and will have his side of the story in a bit.
For starters, iROKING, is a leading digital music platform showcasing Nigeria’s prolific artists to the world. The platform has recorded over 350 Million YouTube hits and has over 1.1 Million users downloading tracks from its web and mobile platforms monthly.
TechMoran believes the fallout runs deep and our Nigerian editor is following up the story. We shall a detailed story about these shortly as we await for iROKING to announce a new CEO in the coming months.