Award-winning Nigerian filmmaker and author, Arese Ugwu has taken to social media to share photos from her summer holiday amid the dismissal of Fegho Umunubo, the Special Assistant to the Office of Vice President, Kashim Shettima on Digital and Creative Economy from office.
As earlier reported by eelive.ng, Ugwu had publicly accused the presidential aide of failing to honor financial commitments after promising funding support for her productions.
READ ALSO: Arese: Presidential Aide, Fegho Gets Suspended for Breach of Creative Fund Contract
Ugwu, known for creating the popular TV series The Smart Money Woman, via her verified Instagram narrated her experience, revealing that she was introduced to Umunubo shortly after the launch of the ₦5 billion Creative Fund in partnership with Providus Bank in December 2023.
Documents showed Umunubo, while acting in his official capacity, signed a deal pledging ₦10 million sponsorship for the premiere and marketing of Lara Unlimited, a spin-off of Ugwu’s work.
The agreement also granted the presidency’s digital economy office extensive promotional rights, including branding on event backdrops and movie posters, a 30–45 second advert before screenings, podcast features, and influencer shoutouts. However, the pledge was never honoured.
On August 30, Ms Ugwu publicly accused Umunubo of fraud in a post on Instagram.
She wrote, “Just so it’s clear that I’m not crashing out over ₦5 million naira as Fegho Umunubo would like you to believe.
“He owes me ₦10 million, but this is about something bigger… It’s about dangling a fund of $617 million and another of ₦5 billion for over 12 months… playing games with my resilience when I was trying so hard to pivot from the gbese I was already in. Then finding out that he had no authorisation to be signing the agreements he was signing or making the promises he was making on behalf of the Vice President of Nigeria.”
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Following her callout, Umunubo was suspended and subsequently dismissed from the office.
The notice, signed by Abiodun Oladunjoye, Director of Information at the State House, warned stakeholders in the creative sector to desist from dealing with him.
“Kindly note that he no longer represents this administration in any capacity. Henceforth, anyone who interfaces with him in the name of President Tinubu’s administration does so at his or her own risk,” the statement read.
Speaking after the development, Arese Ugwu via her Instagram on Monday evening, shared lovely photos of herself with having a great time with the caption: “Really enjoyed the Last days of Summer… Now September is here .. time to lock in!”
