Jimoh Ibrahim shut Newswatch, floats Newswatch Times

Semiu Salami
Semiu Salami

The billionaire businessman and Publisher of Daily Newswatch, Jimoh Ibrahim, has shut the newspaper following the recent court case which stripped of the ownership of the media outfit.

In place of Newswatch, Ibrahim has however floated Newswatch Times, which his aides claim to be independent of the old title.

The court had ruled in favour of the company’s minority shareholders and ordered the stoppage of publication of Daily Newswatch.

In the bid to comply with the court ruling, the Igbotako-born self-acclaimed corporate surgeon and politician opted to register and publish the newspaper under a new name.

Consequently, the Daily Newswatch has ceased to exist, while the staff of the company have been transferred to the new publication outfit, Newswatch Times.

As against the defunct Daily Newswatch, which was a 96-page newspaper, the Newswatch Times is a 72 page all-colour newspaper.

A senior management staff of the company who spoke to New Mail Nigeria on the condition of anonymity, said the move was a clever one by the publisher to avoid the wrath of the court.

For him, the Newswatch Times is a child of necessity and a stop gap measure pending the determination of the appeal of the judgment of the Federal High Court.

“One thing I can assure you is that Newswatch Times is being built on a quicksand, never intended to endure. This isn’t the road the GMD wanted to travel but we have to convince him to accept it because it’s better than to totally shutdown the business and render hundreds of its workforce jobless.”

The source further hinted that the real Newswatch would return to the newsstand immediately the Appeal Court rules on the matter.

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