{"id":59499,"date":"2025-01-12T16:04:43","date_gmt":"2025-01-12T16:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=59499"},"modified":"2025-01-12T16:04:43","modified_gmt":"2025-01-12T16:04:43","slug":"230m-scandal-first-bank-otedola-thisday-counterattack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/01\/12\/230m-scandal-first-bank-otedola-thisday-counterattack\/","title":{"rendered":"$230M Scandal: First Bank, Otedola, THISDAY Counterattack"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Our Correspondent\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A brewing financial storm is shaking Nigeria\u2019s media and banking sectors as First Bank demands the return of a staggering $230 million allegedly funneled to media mogul Prince Nduka Obaigbena, the influential owner of THISDAY and Arise News.<\/p>\n<p>The controversial sum, reportedly channeled through former Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele, was meant for an oil deal.<\/p>\n<p>However, billionaire businessman Femi Otedola claims Obaigbena diverted the funds to finance personal luxuries, including a private jet and Emefiele\u2019s botched presidential ambition.<\/p>\n<p>Now, First Bank is knocking, seeking its money. But rather than repayment, THISDAY has launched an aggressive editorial attack on both the bank and Otedola, setting off a media war that has raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n<p>Critics argue that the publication\u2019s Friday lead story was less about journalism and more about shielding its embattled owner.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Arise News remains conspicuously silent. Observers have questioned why Rufai Oseni, a co-host of Arise Morning Show and a self-proclaimed fearless journalist, has not addressed the scandal, not even on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Could his brand of &#8220;fearless journalism&#8221; have limits?<\/p>\n<p>With First Bank tightening its grip, the question lingers: Will this battle end with the bank taking over Arise and THISDAY? Or will Obaigbena, known for his resilience, find a way out of this financial mess?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Our Correspondent\u00a0 A brewing financial storm is shaking Nigeria\u2019s media and banking sectors as First Bank demands the return of a staggering $230 million allegedly funneled to media mogul Prince Nduka Obaigbena, the influential owner of THISDAY and Arise News. The controversial sum, reportedly channeled through former Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele, was meant [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":59500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-59499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59499"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59501,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59499\/revisions\/59501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}