The worst fears of Newswatch staff are beginning to come true as the core investor, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, has cut salaries at the magazine by half.

Ibrahim, who bought into the 28-year-old iconic magazine in 2011, had suspended operations last August 7, promising to reposition and return it to the newsstand soon. But rather than make that a priority, he chose to first introduce a daily newspaper variant even though workers for both the magazine and the newspaper started work on November 1.

News Express learnt that Newswatch magazine will likely return to the newsstand next week but as a 120-page fortnightly publication rather than as a weekly.

The event has however been preceded by bad news for the staff. An impeccable source told News Express: “We had a meeting where we were told that he had been spending N7.5 million on wage bill monthly and that he could not do that anymore. The next thing we saw was our February salary slashed by 50 per cent. A memo concerning the new development came after the slashing.”

The salary cut does not, however, affect workers in the newspaper section.

It would be recalled that News Express had last December 14 reported that Ibrahim was contemplating slashing salaries despite giving the impression that money is not his problem.

Ibrahim, who bought 51 per cent of Newswatch shares in 2011, last August announced the sack of the founding directors, asking them to increase their shareholding if they wished to return to the Board. The case remains in court.

•Photo: Barrister Ibrahim.