Less than two weeks after a court judgment sacked Jimoh Ibrahim, a top businessman, as publisher of Daily Newswatch newspaper, the publication has changed its title to Newswatch Times.
Ibrahim purchased majority shares of the company on May 2, 2011, but soon disagreed with pioneer founders of the magazine and eventually announced the shutdown of the company on August 6, 2012.
He also sacked Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and Soji Akinrinade from the board of directors of Newswatch.
He said the decision was taken in order to re-position the magazine and make it relevant to modern development.
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Dissatisfied with the development, Nuhu Aruwa and Jubril Aminu – two minority shareholders – filed a petition urging the court to nullify the Share Purchase Agreement that transferred ownership of the paper to Ibrahim.
They also sought an order restraining him from publishing and selling to the public, Newswatch daily and weekend newspapers.
On October 20, a federal high court in Lagos granted the prayers of the minority shareholders.
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Though Ibrahim vowed to appeal the judgment, he complied with the directive and the publication went off the newsstand for a while.
However, the paper resurfaced on October 30, but under a new title: Newswatch Times, with an edition marked ‘Vol.1, No. 1’.
Apart from the name, website domain and the slight change in the design on the mast head, the publication still retains virtually all the previous qualities.
It still publishes 64 pages and the editorial crew remains the same.
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