$200M Debt: Obaigbena To Cancel 2025 Thisday/Arise Awards

Baring any last minute changes, Nduka Obaigbena is mulling the idea of canceling the 2025 ThisDay/Arise Award ceremony which had named President Bola Tinubu as Man of The Year, due to a court order that froze all accounts linked to him and his several companies.

Investigative journalist, Jackson Ude, who disclosed this in a post on X on Sunday, recalled that Obaigbena owes First Bank Nigeria Limited over $200million and is yet to pay.

He continued: “In his attempt to recover all debts owed First Bank and clean up the books, Billionaire Businessman and Chairman of First Bank, Femi Otedola, approached a High Court in Lagos and got an order freezing all accounts linked to Obaigbena and several of his companies.”

ThisDay Awards is scheduled for January 22, 2025.

Notable Nigerians have been nominated for several categories of the ThisDay Awards are expected to grace the occasion as well as dignitaries who have been invited.

“However, following the Federal High Court order that blocked all of Obaigbena’s account and that of his several companies, it has become increasingly difficult for him to finance the event, according to an insider,”Ude added.

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He wrote further: “Corporate sponsors, dignitaries and invited guests have also started to call Obaigbena, pulling out from attending the ceremony which have become a popular annual event, sources said. “My boss has already called the organizers over our decisions to pull out from the event. We and several others I know won’t be attending anymore,” a source whose organization was billed to attend the January 22 event said.

“Obaigbena is in a state of confusion due to the level of embarrassment the blocking of his accounts and that of his companies have caused him. His planned cancellation of the award equally poses a bigger embarrassment due to the dignitaries involved,” he concluded.