The US-born Nigerian actress, Adunni Ade, has refuted the allegation that she was owing the late actor, Murphy Afolabi, N250,000 before his death.
Murphy Afolabi died on Sunday, May 14, 2023, after he reportedly slipped and fell in the bathroom.
During his eight-day Muslim burial prayers, on Monday 22, an Islamic cleric accused Adunni Ade of owing the late actor.
The cleric said the actress and other Nollywood actors owed Afolabi before his demise, and they should refund the money.
But, In her reaction to the allegation by her lawyer, the actress took to her Instagram account on Tuesday, May 23, and dismissed the accusation.
She said she refunded the late actor the sum of N150,000 sent to her for a movie role in 2021.
The actress, who shared a screenshot of her bank statement, said, “Sometimes in July 2021, the late Mr Murphy Afolabi reached out to me, requiring my services for a movie production.
“He appealed to me stating that it was a self-funded production that he couldn’t afford my professional fee, but that he would need my moral support.
“I asked how many scenes and duration expected of me on set. He said 10 scenes and that I would spend one day. He offered to ‘fuel my car’ as honorarium, which payment was made on 02 July 2021 for N150,000.
“Unfortunately, on 11 July 2021 shortly before the commencement of the production, I lost my younger brother. I contacted Mr Murphy Afolabi a few days afterwards to request for his bank account details, to send him a refund, as I would be travelling to the United States for my younger brother’s funeral, and to spend time with the rest of my family.
“He insisted I held on to the money while he figured out whether to move the shoot forward or contact me for another one.
“I returned to Lagos end of September 2021 and waited for his call. Mr. Murphy Afolabi contacted me on 08 October 2021 and said he wanted to start a new job soon and needed me for 4 days, playing the lead but for the same amount of N150,000 which he had paid in July.
“I respectfully declined, requested his bank account details, and transferred to his bank account the full refund of N150,000 on the same day, 08 October 2021.”
