Some former employees of Jimoh Ibrahim, a senator contesting the Ondo State governorship election under the All Progressives Congress (APC), have accused him of withholding their salaries for seven years.

FIJ learned that the affected workers worked with one of his media outlets called Newswatch Magazine in Lagos State from 2012 until Ibrahim shut down the publication in 2017.

The ex-employees told FIJ that they were owed between 8 and 24 months of unpaid salaries and efforts to get the money they worked for had been futile.

Olusegun Olakiitan, employed as a photo editor in 2012, told FIJ that he was owed nine months’ salary. FIJ obtained a copy of his employment letter, which showed that his monthly salary was N130,000 when he was offered the job.

Tajudeen Adigun, a former senior assistant editor and chairman of the group of affected workers, also revealed that they approached the public defender in Lagos in 2023 regarding their unpaid salaries.

“Senator Ibrahim frustrated all efforts of the public defender to serve him a petition. The petition was filed within six years allowed by the law between workers and employers resolving a disagreement or crisis,” he noted.

HOW JIMOH IBRAHIM ACQUIRED NEWSWATCH MAGAZINE IN 2011
FIJ’s findings revealed that Newswatch magazine was founded in 1984 by four journalists: Dele Giwa, Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed.

In 2011, Jimoh Ibrahim, who owned the National Mirror newspaper at the time, took over the magazine as he acquired 51 percent of the shares of Newswatch Communications Limited.

According to a report by the Vanguard, Ibrahim acquired the magazine to prevent the vision of the founding fathers from going under.

IBRAHIM’S HISTORY OF UNPAID DEBTS
FIJ found that Ibrahim seems to have a long history of unpaid debts. In 2017, the founding members of Newswatch revealed that Ibrahim never paid for the 51 percent shares of the company he claimed ownership of.

A statement by the founding members, partly quoted by PremiumTimes in 2017, reads: “On May 5, 2011, the directors of Newswatch Communications Limited signed a Share Purchase Agreement with Mr Jimoh Ibrahim and his Global Media Mirror Limited for the sale of 51 percent shares of Newswatch Communications Limited to him and his company.

The share purchase price was N510 million, which he was to pay not later than May 5, 2011, the date of the completion board meeting. Ibrahim never paid the said N510 million before that day; he never paid it on that day and he never paid it after that day.

Up till today, he has not paid for the said shares. But he has tried by hook and crook to own the shares of a company he never paid for.“

This 2014 news report also revealed that the Lagos High Court cancelled the share purchase agreement (SPA) which transferred the ownership of Newswatch to Ibrahim because there was no evidence to show that he paid for the shares.

The Ondo Governorship aspirant was also announced as one of the top 20 debtors of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in 2019, and there is no readily available information indicating that he has paid the debt.

FIJ called him on Monday for comments on the unpaid salaries, but his calls were unanswered. A message sent to him on Tuesday morning has also not been responded to. Our reporter called him again on Wednesday, but there was still no response.