Musician, Rema, has been accused by a user on X, Philomena Obasi, in a series of now-deleted tweets of using the Nigeria Police Force to “bully” her sister, Amaka Obasi, an interior designer.
In posts shared Tuesday evening, Obasi alleged that Rema had “used the police” to arrest her sister “unjustly” and appealed for help.
“Please my sister has a case where she is being BULLIED by a CELEBRITY, REMA, @heisrema, who reached out to her for an interior decoration contract. They’ve used police to arrest her unjustly, please help us try to get her out,” one post read.
In a statement from his lawyers, Rema dismissed the accusations as “false and misleading information.”
Here’s everything we know so far:
Rema Reached Out to Amaka Obasi
According to Rema’s legal team, he contacted Obasi’s Ardeb Lifestyle Company, whom he had worked with before, in September 2024 to renovate his Lagos home.
They said the project was expected to be completed by December 2024, but she failed to deliver. At that point, they claimed, Rema began to suspect that she had been attempting to defraud him.
“Investigations into Ms. Amaka Obasi’s repeated failure to deliver the project within the agreed timelines revealed that she conspired and acted in concert with our Client’s former personal assistant, to deliberately and grossly inflate the prices of materials, services, and labour purportedly required for the project, all while delivering substandard work,” the statement read.
“This gross inflation of costs was neither accidental nor incidental, but calculated and executed with the clear intent to deceive and defraud our Client.”
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What is Amaka Obasi’s team saying?
However, a user on X identified as @software_artist alleged in a post on Tuesday that Rema later asked Obasi to add a music studio and an improved water system management to the project, tasks that they said were not part of the original agreement.
It remains unclear if those additions were completed. But @software_artist claimed that when Obasi requested payment, Rema refused and instead involved law enforcement agents from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Annex in Alagbon.
Did Rema pay Amaka Obasi?
Rema’s team countered @software_artist, stating that he had paid her for “the majority” of her services.
“Despite receiving the majority of the contract payments, Ms. Amaka Obasi wholly failed to provide services or deliver work commensurate with the substantial payments made to her,” the statement said.
They further accused her of doing substandard work and using “unapproved materials.”
“She carried out work that was substandard, grossly defective, and far below the agreed specifications and acceptable industry standards, including the use of unapproved materials, poor workmanship and incomplete installations, all of which undermined the structural integrity and functionality of the project,” Rema’s lawyers said.
They added that Obasi inflated costs and tried to defraud him.
“Ms. Amaka Obasi’s deliberate misrepresentation of costs, workmanship, and progress coupled with her repeated failure to deliver within stipulated timeline clearly demonstrates a deliberate intent to deceive and defraud our Client, to obtain money by false pretence, and to fraudulently enrich herself at our Client’s expense,” they said.
“Ms. Obasi’s actions, including unjustified demands for additional funds, constitute a pattern of fraud, extortion and financial exploitation of our Client.”
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When did the police first arrest Amaka Obasi?
According to @software_artist, Obasi was invited to a meeting with Rema’s lawyers, but was instead arrested by FCID officers. The user alleged she had to pay more than ₦1 million as bail.
“The police asked her to turn off her phone last week so that Rema will think she’s still in custody. She was arrested and detained yesterday after honoring an invitation from the Police with her lawyer,” the post read.
What is the FCID saying?
The FCID later issued a statement on Tuesday, saying that Obasi, through her company Arden Lifestyle Company, had agreed to a project valued at ₦386,000,000. The agency said Rema paid her ₦287,000,000.
It added that after an investigation, it discovered that “Miss Obasi failed to meet the terms of the signed agreement and instead transferred part of the money to another account.”
“Both parties were accordingly advised to engage an independent valuer to ascertain the position of funds and project execution. Instead, Miss Obasi declined to provide either a valuer’s report or a legal representative until she was eventually apprehended today,” the FCID said.
What is Amaka Obasi’s team saying about the FCID investigation?
@software_artist claimed that Obasi’s arrest was part of a pattern, alleging that Rema had used the police against her three times during the course of the project.
“Throughout the course of this project he has harassed and arrested her with police 3 times and now she’s currently in detention,” the user posted.
Rema’s team accuse Amaka Obasi of violating NDA
Rema’s team also said Obasi and a former personal assistant violated a non-disclosure agreement by leaking sensitive information.
His lawyers said this was why Rema filed a petition with the Nigeria Police Force, which subsequently arrested Obasi and the former assistant on charges including fraud, conspiracy, and obtaining money by false pretence.
“This unauthorized disclosure of highly sensitive personal and proprietary data underscores the seriousness of her misconduct and the damage caused to our Client,” they said.
“These actions, taken together with her prior fraudulent misrepresentations, highlight the calculated intent to cause financial and reputational harm.”
What is the situation currently?
Obasi’s sister, Philomena Obasi, said that she is still in police custody.
Rema’s team said that Obasi was only rearrested because she failed to meet the terms of her bail. They added that the matter is still under investigation
“The matter remains under investigation by the relevant authorities, and steps are being taken to ensure that the law runs its full course against all persons found culpable,” Rema’s team said.
