Defamation: How Saheed Osupa Was Pressurized Into Letting Portable Off The Hook, Why He Begged Hotelier, TAMPAN Not To Rearrest Him

Sequel to the decision of Alhaji Saheed Osupa  to file a notice of discontinuance, controversial hip- hop act, Habeeb Olalomi Oyegbile, who is popularly called Portable, has regained his freedom.

Saheed Osupa,  a popular fuji musician, in a statement issued by his media aide, Busari Babatunde noted that he took the decision not to continue with the case because prominent Nigerians had urged him to ‘forgive and forget’ while adding that it was intended to discourage others from getting involved in such an act.

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‘Hence, the intention was not personal but to set a precedent to discourage unruly behaviour and promote responsibility, especially among younger artists. However, following heartfelt pleas from several prominent Nigerians, amongst who are Alhaji Ahmad Lawal, CEO of Lahmad Concepts, and Saheed Ibile, CEO of Harmony Holdings Ltd, Alh. Fatai Lajero, on behalf of Olufimo Royal Parliament and Alh. Waheed Ogunsesan, National President Olufimo Fans Club and moved by Portable’s plight, following his inability to meet his bail conditions, Osupa gave a personal directive for the immediate withdrawal of the case’ he said.

Saheed Osupa also submitted that although Portable  would be let off the hook  he would however  need to meet some conditions.

‘He (Osupa) hopes that Portable will seize this opportunity for reflection, growth, and transformation. As a condition of this withdrawal, Portable is expected to Retract his statement implying Saheed Osupa should be held responsible if anything happens to him

Confess to the falsehood of the public claim of his lawyer, Chief Bar. Isaac Adebayo that he was holding Saheed Osupa’s leg and begging for forgiveness because, contrary to this claim, Osupa did not even set his eyes on Portable. Henceforth, sign an undertaking to desist from cyberbullying, defamation, and character assassination. If these conditions are not met, the case may be reinstated’ he added.

Recall that Portable, who was crowned ‘King of Streets’ in Ore, Ondo State five months ago, and who has apparently lost his ‘power of control’., was arrested by the police on Saturday.

 He was arrested by cops attached to Kwara State police command sequel to the petition filed by Alhaji Saheed Osupa.

 Recall also that the relationship between Portable and Saheed Osupa became frosty following allegations of copyright infringement.

He had accused Osupa of being behind the removal of his track from popular streaming services including Spotify and Apple Music.

Portable condemned Osupa for not supporting his music career, calling him ‘big for nothing fellow’.

Spokesperson for the state police command, Ejire-Adeyemi Toun, a Superintendent of Police, noted in a statement she issued in Ilorin and made available to Team@orientactualmags.com on Monday that Portable would be facing defamation charges and he was arraigned on the same day.

The Upper Area Court, Ilorin later set Portable’s bail at N1 million with two sureties in like sum

While Portable was lucky to be granted bail at a first hearing on Monday, it was not long before it became known that it was not yet ‘uhuru’.

The judge noted that one of the sureties must be the Chairman or Secretary of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), while the second surety must own a landed property in a Government Reserved Area (GRA) with a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O).

While many may have assumed that one of the bail conditions will be easy to accomplish by Portable, it almost became the hardest part.

Team@orientactualmags.com learned that the national secretariat of PMAN got in touch with the Kwara State chairman, Alhaji Adisa Owala  on Monday and asked him not to get involved and there was no solution in sight as at 5 pm on Monday when Alhaji Saheed Osupa left Ilorin.

The popular fuji musician was however eventually pressurized into letting Portable off the hook-on Tuesday.

That was not all, Saheed Osupa also got in touch with Mr Yemi George and Kwara TAMPAN, who were ‘waiting in ambush’.

They had planned to rearrest him but Saheed Osupa pleaded that he should be allowed to leave Kwara State for Ogun State while they can do whatever they intend to do later in order to let members of the public know that he is no longer keeping him behind bars.

Portable had two separate petitions filed against him at the Kwara State police headquarters, Ilorin and he would have been made to move from one to another if not that he was lucky  to get out of the unpleasant situation.

A new hospitality outfit in Ilorin owned by Mr Yemi George, Starwood Hotels O2 Arena had ahead of its opening ceremony organized an event in conjunction with the Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN), Kwara State chapter, called ‘Kwara TAMPAN Fiesta’.

The event was scheduled to hold on September 29, 2024, and Portable was invited to perform while tickets were sold to residents of the state who had looked forward to getting entertained by the controversial musician.

It was learned that Portable, who had earlier received the sum of N6 million had in a phone conversation with organizers of the event on September 29, asked that arrangements should be made for his transportation to Ilorin and eventually, he got extra N450, 000 for this.

However, despite getting all he had requested for, he did not arrive in Ilorin on September 29, but rather in the early hours of September 30.

He apologized for disappointing his fans and explained that it was not a deliberate action.

TAMPAN led by the governor of Kwara State chapter, Mr Olu Amusan aka Torotoro, later agreed that the show should be held on September 30, and they had consequently embarked on a road show to create awareness.

The organizers however received the shock of their life when they got to the hotel and discovered that Portable had left Ilorin after the road show!

Mr Yemi George later invited Alhaji Saheed Osupa to perform at the hotel as a way of attracting attention to the new hospitality outfit which was the reason why Portable was invited for an event there in the first place.

TAMPAN and Mr Yemi George later filed a petition against Portable demanding a refund and damages.

 It was learned that Kwara TAMPAN and Mr Yemi George had taken steps to have Portable brought to the same Upper Area Court, Ilorin today ,Wednesday, April 16,2025, until Saheed Osupa persuaded them to keep such a thing in abeyance-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you