Nigerian politician and businessman Ubi Franklin recently came under fire on Twitter for an unpaid debt after getting in touch with a UI/UX designer via Iyanya.
During the presidential election, a Twitter user claims she created UI/UX designs for Franklin, but she hasn’t received payment for her work.
The user claimed that Franklin used the fact that banks weren’t operating at the time of the project’s completion as an excuse for not paying her. She hasn’t received payment, though, as of yet.
The Twitter user clarified that Franklin had contacted her in January to collaborate on a few projects through Iyanya’s account on Twitter.
He then instructed her to get in touch with him via WhatsApp and asked her to redesign a website and create portals for a lending institution, a tenant, a landlord, and lawyers. They agreed that she would finish the project for $5000.
On a Zoom call, they further discussed the project, and Franklin asked for an invoice and an estimated delivery date for the website design. She reassured him that she would start working on the portals the following week and that it would be finished by the weekend.
Franklin was supposed to give her a partial payment, but she never got any money. He asserted that the lack of naira was the cause of the banks’ problems.
The Twitter user kept working on the undertaking, anticipating Franklin would eventually pay her.
However, he did not attend the website redesign presentation and ignored her subsequent attempts to contact him.
He requested that she continue working on the project after the presidential elections and gave her a deadline of the week after the gubernatorial elections.
She tweeted:
“Good afternoon Twitter NG. Please help me tell @ubifranklin1 to pay the money he owes me. In January, Mr Ubi Franklin reached out to me through @Iyanya ‘s twitter account to tell me there were a few projects he wanted us to work on. Of course I was excited to see @Iyanya ‘s dm and was happy to work together. Still using Iyanya’s account he told me to message Ubi Franklin on WhatsApp and gave me his number.“I sent him a message on WhatsApp and he told me to check out a website, he wanted to add some functionalities.
“I guess there was a misunderstanding of roles as what he wanted to do required a developer, but I explained to him clearly that I’m a designer, I pointed out the faults in the website design and told him it could be better. He agreed with me and told me to go ahead to redesign the website, and that I had to hurry because there was another mobile app he wanted me to design.
“Our agreement was that I would redesign the website, then design a landlord, tenant, lending company and lawyers portal for 500k. We had this conversation Feb 13th on a zoom call, and he asked me to send an invoice which I did immediately.
“Asking me when it would be ready.
I told him the website design would be ready by the weekend, then I’d start work on the portals the next week, I couldn’t give an end date for that yet.“Expecting that he would make part payment immediately with the urgency in his tone, I got to work. The next day I hadn’t received anything so I sent him a message and he told me he would sort it banks had been going crazy and all that.
“It was believeable for me at the time because that was when there was naira scarcity and it was difficult for people to transact.
I continued to work on the project, I didn’t think someone like him would NOT pay, plus I had said I was going to present the website redesign by weekend.“I asked if he was going to be available for the presentation He didn’t turn up, I kept reaching out and he told me he was busy with campaigning.
“I let him know I wasn’t sure how to proceed because there was no commitment from him yet, I also sent him the link to the redesign to check it out so we could have a meeting.
“After the presidential elections I reached out again and he told me to please give him till the week after the gubernatorial elections, as he was busy with campaigning and that I should keep working on the project. The elections was moved from March 11th till 18th so that was another extra week.
“I was very patient and took him by his word. I’ve been trying to reach Mr Ubi since then and he has been blatantly ignoring me, he keeps declining my calls. The project is about 70% done, and he has not paid anything.
“My patience is exhausted, so I told him today that I was going to post on social media and he responded to me for the first time in weeks.
But look at his response.“He claims he told me he wasn’t ready, and yet in the voice note he told me to keep working and that he’d sort everything out the week after elections. On days when I got frustrated and tired, I would go back and listen to the voice note to assure myself that he would pay. I even got someone to do an animation to make sure the job was impeccable. I thought he was an honorable man.
“Please all I want is for him to pay me what he owes me. I’m a quiet and peaceful young woman, trying to make ends meet. Ubi Franklin should not try to oppress me, I did not beg him for money, it’s my hard earned money and my right.”
