HIP TV Hasn’t Been Taken Over By Any Bank – Ayo Animashaun

MICHAEL AKINOLA

Entertainment entrepreneur, Ayo Animashaun, has debunked the rumour that Heritage Bank Plc has taken over HIP TV, his cable television channel.

Animashaun, the HIP TV founder, in an Instagram post, Tuesday reacted to viral reports which claimed that a court has ruled in favour of the bank.

“The last few days have been interesting, to say the least. The news has been flooded with all kinds of propaganda, but I’d rather talk facts. The fact is, @officialHipTv has not been taken over by any bank. We are open for business and running our operations as usual…”

In the lingering legal tussle between Heritage Bank Plc and Smooth Promotions, Animashaun had earlier accused Heritage Bank of breaching all acceptable professional conduct with respect to a transaction that has been the subject of a protracted disagreement. Smooth Promotions also asked the court to reverse over N185 million in interest rates over and above the agreed interest rate and other unwholesome, spurious, unjustifiable, and illegal entries inputted into its account as at February 2017.

These charges were revealed by an independent audit of the company’s accounts stretching back to 2013.

According to the court papers, the company said it lost in excess of N533,927,562 owing to the failure and refusal of Heritage Bank Plc to insure its property against risk like fire, and or provide information to Smooth Promotions as to insurance on its property following a fire incident on November 6, 2017, despite debiting Smooth Promotions for the insurance premium.

The suit was filed by Kemi Pinheiro LP at a Federal High Court, Lagos alleging that Heritage Bank Plc fraudulently deducted insurance premium from Smooth Promotions account without remitting the money to the insurance company; charged interests that were not agreed; and a forensic audit found that almost N200 million worth of charges were not correct.