Lagos lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, has sent letters on alleged copyright infringement by the state Ministry of Transportation to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, demanding N36billion compensation.

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Falana of Falana and Falana Chambers wrote the letters on behalf of a public relations firm, Peach Studio Works Limited, PSW, over alleged breach of its rights on digital traffic management solutions, TMS, application, ‘Ojutiti Mobile Application’, allegedly presented to Lagos State Ministry but subsequently launched without the involvement of the firm.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of PSW, Mr. Oladapo Olawale, has threatened to drag the state government to court after efforts to reach amicable settlement failed.

The firm is demanding N36billion compensation.

The action followed moves in April 2022, when Lagos State government launched TMS to digitally process traffic violations and enforce compliance.

At the time, only the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, officials could use it.
But in July 2024, LASTMA opened up digital traffic management for citizen participation.
The agency launched a whistleblower application that allows citizens capture and report traffic offences.

The app also partly digitalizes traffic offence adjudication for the agency and road users.
Considering the traffic situation in Lagos, deploying those technologies should be a beacon of hope for the average road user.

But the process that led to this deployment has generated controversy.

In 2015, Olawale and his PSW team developed Ojutiti with the same interface and functions as TMS and the whistleblower application.

Ojutiti was copyrighted by Olawale and his team.

He later, according to him, presented the application to Lagos State Ministry of Transport.
After an engagement that spanned about two years, the ministry ceased correspondence only to launch the TMS in 2022.

Following failed attempts to get the attention of the state government and Sanwo-Olu towards amicable resolution, the CEO and his team engaged Falana.

Funmi Falana, SAN, of Falana and Falana Chambers, on March 13, 2024, on behalf of the client, sent a letter of request of intervention on the alleged copyright infringement by the state Ministry of Transportation to Sanwo-Olu.

The letter reads: “We are Solicitors to Peach Studio Works Limited PSW, (hereinafter referred to as ‘our client’). We have their instructions to write Your Excellency this letter on the above subject matter.

“Our client is a limited liability company registered under the Company and Allied Matters Act with its registered address at Plot 17, Block C, Peak Park Estate Phase 1, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State. Nigeria

“Our client proposed an ingenious traffic violation application borne out of the desire to improve traffic management to the Lagos State Government.

“The mobile application was built and launched in 2014 and named Ojutiti (On the Road).

“The application was designed to record and report traffic violations by citizens, using the video evidence as the basis for charging the registered vehicle owners.

“Our client received a letter for a presentation and demonstration on November 5, 2015.

“Our client attended the session as scheduled and presented to the Commissioner with high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Transportation.

“Consequently, the officials of the Ministry refused to give our client any further audience ever since the last letter they received on January 17, 2017.

“However, to our client’s greatest surprise, they came across a publication in a national newspaper online on July 11, 2023 (nearly eight years after our client’s presentation) on what was described as a Traffic Management Solution.

“It may interest Your Excellency to know that a review of the application showed that it bears strong similarities with the mobile application our client earlier presented.

“A further analysis shows that apart from the similarity in the method of capturing traffic offenders, the booking of offenders, and the ability to challenge offences and make payments were not different from what our client presented as the Ojutiti Traffic Violation Application in November 2015 to the Lagos State Government.

“Our client believes strongly that the Traffic Management Solution launched by the Lagos State Government is a replica of the Ojutiti Mobile application which they presented in November 2015.

“It is evident that the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation through its agency, LASTMA, has infringed on our client’s rights by proceeding to launch the application without their consent first sought and obtained.

“Given the foregoing, we humbly urge Your Excellency to intervene by investigating the allegation raised in this letter as the projected revenue of our client for five years on this project is over N36,000,000,000.

“Kindly accept our assurances of the highest esteem, Your Excellency, as we await your timely intervention in the salient issues raised in this letter.”

Falana also wrote to the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Pedro, calling for intervention.

There have been no response to both letters to Sanwo-Olu and Pedro, according to the PSW CEO
Also, in a petition to the Director, Enforcement, Nigeria Copyright Commission, Oladeinde Fagbemi, on August 24, 2023, Olawale wrote, “The Traffic Management Solution launched by the Lagos State Government is apparently a replication of the Ojutiti mobile application which we presented in November 2015.

“We are disappointed that the LASG proceeded to implement what we shared in good faith with no recourse to us almost eight years after.

“This does not in any way represent what Lagos State stands for and will discourage homegrown solutions from being shared with the Government in the future.

“We had proposed a partnership with a revenue model that will empower thousands of youths across the State and we built engagement with them on social media in anticipation of the partnership.

“It is evident that the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation through its agency, LASTMA, has infringed on our rights by proceeding to launch an application we presented without our consent.”
Meanwhile, Olawale told Sunday Vanguard that PSW would be left with no option than to sue the state government and its agents over the alleged piracy infringement.

“All I want is progress and solutions. I presented this to them. But the reaction I have got is disappointing and pretty frustrating. This is my own story, my legitimate story. I have shared my experience as it happened without adding anything or removing anything from it.

“I have established that there was an infringement of my rights. There are limits to my legal knowledge, and that’s why I’ve engaged a lawyer and a law firm of repute.

“Falana contacted Lagos State Ministry of Transport, FIJ, resent the message, copying the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, the Attorney General Lagos State email, and the Ministry of Justice. FIJ also reached out to Gboyega Akosile, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Media and Publicity. However, as of press time, none of them had responded.”

Plea for intervention

Olawale stated; “I would like to express our horror seeing that the TMS launched by LASTMA (whom we also presented to) is the exact same Ojutiti application we had earlier presented in 2015. “The end-to-end features are the same and this has traumatized us as a business, as we have a copyright notification for the application and have built a strong following on social media in anticipation of a partnership with the Ministry.

“We are hereby appealing to Governor Sanwo-Olu for his immediate intervention to settle out of court because it is not our intention to embarrass the state government in any way whatsoever.”
Meanwhile, efforts to reach the AG, the Commissioner for Transportation and S.A to Governor on Media and Publicity as they could not be reached.

Lagos reacts

But reacting on behalf of the state government, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Wale Musa, said, “We are aware of this claim because he has taken us to the Copyright Commission. We have made our presentation and submitted all requested documentation.

“Let it be known that we receive avalanche of proposals from many proponents, and we always have a listening ear for solutions in the interest of the public. In this instance, the accusation is that the consultant engaged by the state infringed on a copyright.

“The consultant has also made a presentation to the Copyright Commission, and we currently await the decision of the Commission. Lagos State government believes in the rule of law and would never act to the detriment of the law or infringe on the right of the citizens.”

Speaking on possibility of being sued, Musa stated, “We do not believe the firm has a case against us because we did not bring the app. It’s another company that brought the app and not Lagos State government. Naturally he should be suing that company and not Lagos government.”