Sources have opened up on more reasons behind the recent sack of Fegho Umunubo, the former Special Assistant on Digital and Creative Economy under Vice President, Kashim Shettima.
According to presidential sources, Umunubo was fired from office after he reportedly used his presidential office to scam numerous film makers in the creative industry.
The source also disclosed that Umunubo’ questionable sponsorship agreements with filmmakers and creatives, where he promised government-backed funding and visibility was amongst his ‘sins.’
One of the most notable cases involved Arese Ugwu, author and creator of The Smart Money Woman series. In the documents seen, showed Umunubo, acting in his official capacity, where he 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.”
Presidency insiders alleged that Ugwu’s case was not an isolated incident.
“He scammed multiple people in the industry using that office,” a source said, alleging that Umunubo consistently leveraged his proximity to power to lure Nollywood practitioners into similar deals that never materialised.
Umunubo was quietly relieved of his duties in August but, according to sources, continued to parade himself as a presidential aide.
This prompted the State House to issue a public notice on Monday formally announcing his disengagement.