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.
