The operations of DAAR Communications Plc, Nigeria’s mega private television network, is precariously hanging in the balance as the reckless and unbridled handling of the company’s finances by its owner, Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi, has placed the business on the brink of failure. AIT Television is the major service of DAAR Communications Plc.

The company, which is popular among ordinary Nigerians, went public last year. The company tried to raise close to 14 billion naira from the capital market, a move underwritten mostly by BGL Securities Limited, a company with strong ties to James Ibori, former governor of Delta State. Ibori is currently under “trial” before the Federal High Court, Asaba, for money laundering and abuse of office.

The equity funds were tied to specific project heads in the company’s expansion proposals. However, almost a year after the company was listed on the stock exchange, the funds raised seem to have disappeared. Our sources within and outside DAAR group said the media network is currently in urgent need of another financial lifeblood.

Our sources said that, within a spate of two months, Mr. Dokpesi took out much of the capital raised by DAAR from Fidelity Bank.

Dokpesi has explained to some of his board members that the monies were used to finance facilities, including the outside broadcast equipment which was not originally envisaged under the IPO offer. The outside broadcast facilities, according to him, were purchased for the coverage of the upcoming under-17 football tournament in October in Nigeria.

One board member who spoke to us said several of them had fears that the facilities were acquired at inflated cost. He added that some shareholders are beginning to take a critical view of the purchases of broadcast equipment, especially the ones bought through spurious contracts awarded to some dubious Indian “businessmen.”

Meanwhile, since Dokpesi has frittered away the capital, the so-called expansion proposal – under which ten new stations were to be established across Nigeria – seems a mirage. “The DAAR Film Village Project,” one of the programs envisioned in the capital offer, has been abandoned completely.

“The company is only managing to scrape up some funds internally to put a few of the stations on air,” said one corporate source.

The public offer itself has several dark sides. One question mark is that the entire offer was not more than 34% of the company’s total share holdings.
DAAR Investments and Holding Company Limited, the parent company owned solely by Dokpesi, raked in nearly 4 billion naira from the offer, leaving DAAR Communications Limited (now DAAR Communications Plc) with the balance of the total capital. “Dokpesi personally smiled to the bank with about N4 billion naira, leaving the DAAR Group with the balance,” complained one of the shareholders.

Dokpesi and a few of his friends still retain the unsold majority holding of over sixty per cent.

Curiously, in a manner described by a Nigerian investment expert as a “reckless maneuver hardly seen in the Nigerian corporate world,” Dokpesi single-handedly signed away all the DAAR group funds by making various purchases that did not follow the rules of a public quoted company. Our sources said unscrupulous Fidelity Bank officials aided him in dissipating the funds.

“Chief Dokpesi curiously runs some DAAR accounts as sole signatory in banks like Fidelity and FinBank. Through these banks, company funds have been diverted in fraudulent ways that question the status of the company as a quoted firm,” said a member of the board.

Dokpesi’s personal style of running the company has left what an investor described as “a corporate wreck-in-progress.” The company owes more than 4 million dollars to satellite services providers like Intelsat, RRSAT as well as New York-based studios. DAAR also owes its staff a backlog of unpaid salaries running above 400 million naira. “We’re looking at a company that should be thriving, but it’s instead caught in a crisis of survival,” said another board member.

One source told Saharareporters that William Makinde, the company’s executive director, finance and administration, has distanced himself from DAAR’s financial crisis by notifying the board that he has no control over the finances of the Daar Group. Makinde is a nominee of James Ibori’s BGL Securities Limited on the DAAR’s board. BGL is a major investor in DAAR.

The late General Manager of DAAR, Ladi Lawal, did not also have complete control of the firm’s finances before his passing.

As chairman of the board, Dokpesi maintains total control over the finances of the firm. “He uses this questionable power to issue lots of questionable approvals,” said a staffer. The company’s credit control unit is located in his office and reports directly to him.

Another investment expert told us: “It’s an anomaly that Dokpesi’s company continues to operate as a private concern despite going public.” He blamed this on “weak regulatory oversight as well as corruption” in the ranks of the Nigerian Stock Exchange Commission. He said the Nigerian atmosphere “has enabled Chief Dokpesi to maintain a culture of impunity and financial recklessness within the DAAR group.”


A member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dokpesi has made DAAR’s platform available to the ruling party’s officials as well as select political friends, including former Governor Peter Odili of Rivers, a man who has used an injunction issued by a corrupt judge to ward off prosecution for his eight-year spree of money laundering and corruption.

Odili invested N400 million of Rivers State funds in Dokpesi’s DAAR. As earlier reported by Saharareporters, the EFCC under Mrs. Farida Waziri quizzed Dokpesi over the Rivers State funds, but no charges were filed nor were there further information about the investigation. Sources told our reporters that Yar’adua intervened to stop the investigation of Peter Odili altogether and also got assurances from Dokpesi that AIT would become less critical of the government “in return for a soft-landing.”

[b]With the staff of DAAR Group being owed four months salary, on July 16 2009 a wife of a staff member recently sent Dokpesi a text message to his GLO line that angered the “chairman.” The text message, exclusively obtained by Saharareporters read: “ Sir, I mist say a big well done and congratulations for all your achievements with the DAAR group, you have achieved something commendable and for this I thank u. In spite of your work sir, I must state that your idea of staff welfare is poor, my husband, a very hardworking and dedicated member of your staff, has not seen his salary in 4 months, as a result, our family has suffered untold hardship. I must say sir, it beats my imagination how you can comfortably throw a lavish wedding for your son and a birthday party for your wife while the people that rake in the millions for you wallow in misery, but for God’s faithfulness, I shudder to think what would have happened to us, sir. This is a desperate cry from a housewife to u. Please pay your workers—they deserve it. I thank you for taking time to read my mail. I await a change of heart and attitude from you. A Concerned Housewife.”[/b]

As expected the text message drew an angry reaction from Dokpesi. He sent a boastful response: “I am Chief Raymond Dokpesi founder and single largest owner of DAAR Communications PLC. I employed your husband with several millions dollars I earned and could have kept to earn me interest. I have used this hard earned money to generate employment for your husband and family. I have been a multi millionaire since I was 27. It is the millions which my children and wife were deprived of that I used to create opportunity for you and your family. Woe and I say again woe unto you and your family. May you never see or experience happy moment for the rest of your life. May your days be cursed for the rest of your life. Daar”.

Mr. Dokpesi did not respond to inquiries sent by Saharareporters to respond to the information in this report.

[b]

As expected the text message drew an angry reaction from Dokpesi. He sent a boastful response: “I am Chief Raymond Dokpesi founder and single largest owner of DAAR Communications PLC. I employed your husband with several millions dollars I earned and could have kept to earn me interest. I have used this hard earned money to generate employment for your husband and family. I have been a multi millionaire since I was 27. It is the millions which my children and wife were deprived of that I used to create opportunity for you and your family. Woe and I say again woe unto you and your family. May you never see or experience happy moment for the rest of your life. May your days be cursed for the rest of your life. Daar”.[/[/b]quote]

With the staff of DAAR Group being owed four months salary, on July 16 2009 a wife of a staff member recently sent Dokpesi a text message to his GLO line that angered the “chairman.” The text message, exclusively obtained by Saharareporters read: “ Sir, I mist say a big well done and congratulations for all your achievements with the DAAR group, you have achieved something commendable and for this I thank u. In spite of your work sir, I must state that your idea of staff welfare is poor, my husband, a very hardworking and dedicated member of your staff, has not seen his salary in 4 months, as a result, our family has suffered untold hardship. I must say sir, it beats my imagination how you can comfortably throw a lavish wedding for your son and a birthday party for your wife while the people that rake in the millions for you wallow in misery, but for God’s faithfulness, I shudder to think what would have happened to us, sir. This is a desperate cry from a housewife to u. Please pay your workers—they deserve it. I thank you for taking time to read my mail. I await a change of heart and attitude from you. A Concerned Housewife.”

As expected the text message drew an angry reaction from Dokpesi. He sent a boastful response: “I am Chief Raymond Dokpesi founder and single largest owner of DAAR Communications PLC. I employed your husband with several millions dollars I earned and could have kept to earn me interest. I have used this hard earned money to generate employment for your husband and family. I have been a multi millionaire since I was 27. It is the millions which my children and wife were deprived of that I used to create opportunity for you and your family. Woe and I say again woe unto you and your family. May you never see or experience happy moment for the rest of your life. May your days be cursed for the rest of your life. Daar”.

Mr. Dokpesi did not respond to inquiries sent by Saharareporters to respond to the information in this report.


I hope and pray that Dokpesi did not text this to the wife of his employee who hasn't been paid for 4 months. If he did said those words, all the woman has to say is RETURN TO SENDER IN JESUS NAME.

what? if not that this country is messed up, this kind of strong evidence can land him in a big lawsuit.

He thinks because he owns DAAR he is a god, he doesn't even have shame, he can find time to type an sms and he's even cursing the poor woman. what a big shame, he should just bear in mind that no one knows tomorrow, that wealth that he thinks has made him a god can disappear in a day, God dey!

4 months and no pay?

Are people surprised? AIT itself was a product of corruption. Remember MKO and the shipping company which Dokpesi ran on their behalf? When I watch Focus Nigeria and the dedicated workforce that make it happen every week day, I marvel. But let it be known that nothing built on greed, corruption, fraud or deceit will last. To be honest, I am not surprised that things are falling apart and the center can no longer hold. The only people to bail the country out of this mess, are Nigerians and Nigerians alone. They are at the moment held at gun point of economic slavery and deprivation. May God Help Nigeria and its Children

Why are people surprised?
Have we forgotten he's a nigerian?
How else is a wealthy corrupt nigerian suppose to respond to the poor in such situation?

Next pls!

The story looks fishy to me abeg.
How can a private company not pay salary for 4 months?
A the text message is just bloody ridiculous!
What kind of name is "saharareporters" anyway.

I dont believe this shit as well -

nuzo:

Why are people surprised?
Have we forgotten he's a nigerian?
How else is a wealthy corrupt nigerian suppose to respond to the poor in such situation?

Next pls!

WE NEED A BLOODY REVOLUTION TO SANITIZE THESE COUNTRY.

Tudór:

The story looks fishy to me abeg.
How can a private company not pay salary for 4 months?
A the text message is just bloody ridiculous!
What kind of name is "saharareporters" anyway.

it's nigeria  and the usual one man business

someone wrote about AIT staff payment in April https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-259129.0.html

my people self dey fear too much,we fear to fight for freedom, (apology to Abami Eda) why are they silent about it. If they cant use the AIT medium what about their Allies in other Station. I am yet to believe Dokpesi will send such reply. To me it sound Barbaric.

It is only wild Animals in the bush that will say they didn't know from day 1 that AIT was a scam. Why do you think Kehinde Ogunbe and Dayo Adeneye could go there and get their own piece of the private cake with no complaints.

Or have you people forgotten that at one point AIT started begging Nigerians to contribute money for it in order to stay alive?

Why do you think members of staff of AIT keep dying here and there?

The IPO Raymond put out fetched him a lot of money and he pocketed most of it claiming that he had to recoup some of the investment he had put into the company. Is that what he wrote to share holders in the brochure that he would use the money for?

AIT is one of the few companies that I know is being run like a government parastatal.

AIT is a complete sham. DAARSAT is an even bigger fraud.

This is no news, Raymond Dokpesi is said to be very arrogant and pompous. I know 3 of his staff here in Port Harcourt who resigned and left their unpaid salaries. The problem is that we Nigerians are too afraid to take a leap of faith and damn the consequences and that's because most of us too have skeletons in our cupboard. That woman just wasted her money sending sms to that guy; her husband should go and look for another job.

Yeah, like it's a family affair or somethin'. Once he started hiring in-laws and family members instead of actual professionals, it all went downhill from there.

He's now running the new nta for his masters. Even if the biz fails, oga will be there to hand him a bailout. It doesn't seem to matter to Dokpesi that he has betrayed the trust of the people and helped enslave future generations of nigerians. It is very sad.

I dont think I'll miss AIT. They are wack

This is one of the reasons why we do not have one-man businesses with at least 50 years of existence.
Dokpesi owes staff salary but still manages to throw lavish parties!
Typical microcosm of the Nigerian nation.

rubbish news
pls which one is saharareporters it is a rubbish faceless agency!CONFIRMED

I wonder o!

This must be a cry for help. I know it's a fact that staff haven't been paid, but on a realistic note, is there really anything that can be done?

PollMaster:

rubbish news
pls which one is saharareporters it is a rubbish faceless agency!CONFIRMED

Seconded. Rubbish news from sahara reporters. After all, they only become bad when they expose your own wayo nyash.

Abegi!

For me, I dont believe this news.

[size=14pt]Sometimes i now wonder the quality of news on AIT. Recycled over and over with no quality at all. The only thing i quite like a little is aruleba's show but its still wack.
Hey they should check out Soundcity's graphics on T.V. AIT IS WACK![/size]

Na naija we dey

nuzo:

Seconded. Rubbish news from sahara reporters. After all, they only become bad when they expose your own wayo nyash.

Abegi!

Who is this one? May your entire family be showered with bullets like Boko Haram. U gree?

Let's face the truth. Saharareporters and AIT are the same kind of organizations.

I am not surprised, infact i expect this end to the DAAR Communication company, i see Dokpesi in Ikoyi Club from time to time. the way he presents himself to the public is very unbecoming of a man running such a company. I knew he was going to financially wreck the company based on the way he throws money at King Sunny Ade at parties, getting drunk and ogling women from time to time. I did not buy the public offer because i knew the money will end up on women and brandy.

4 months no pay and the staffs are still working I doubt this news though this is Nigeria anything is possible but the staffs should speak out!

guys maintaining a broadcast outfit aint ease at all.

~~~^~