Uchechukwu Okechi, the owner of Lyvenor Properties, has not paid a client a N2.5 million car purchase balance since October.

Okechi explained to FIJ that the client had engaged in business malpractice and was trying to blackmail him.

Johnbosco Ayim (not real name), a Lagos resident, told FIJ a different story. Ayim narrated how Okechi refused to pay about N3 million as balance for the Toyota Venza he bought over 18 months ago.

Ayim also noted that Okechi had yet to deliver three plots of land in what he described as a “fraudulent act”.

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“We met him (Okechi) through my wife’s relative,” Ayim told FIJ in May.

“In November 2022, we bought two plots of land from him at a cost of N1 million each, totalling N2 million only.

“He then promised my wife a surprise gift, which he later fulfilled by giving her a plot of land in Karu.

“In the course of this transaction, Mr. Okechi approached me to purchase a Toyota Venza 2013 model at a cost of N7.5 million in January 2023. He agreed to pay the agreed sum of N7.5 million with an initial payment of N3 million, while he would pay the balance within 90 days.

“He paid an initial sum of N3 million, subsequently paid an additional N1 million and later paid N500,000 in October 2023 for a car bought in January 2023. To date, he has only paid N4.5 million out of the N7.5 million, leaving the outstanding  balance to be N3 million.”

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Ayim told FIJ that he released the black 2013 Toyota Venza car to this buyer who didn’t make full payment because he trusted him to do the right thing.

FIJ saw the land purchase documents Okechi issued Ayim in 2022. Ayim, however, said that Okechi had not given the actual plots to him.

“He has not given us physical allocation for possession,” Ayim told FIJ on a Monday in May.

“He gave some concessions regarding the land we bought from him. Part of the concession was to deduct N1.3 million as a developmental fee from the car price, resulting in the net balance of N6.2 million.

“He has only paid N4.5 million from the N6.2 million; the balance now stands at N1.7 million. This is considering the deduction of N1.3 million.

“We took things so casually because of the contact person, and he took advantage of that. We released the car to him on trust, believing that he would fulfill his promise, but, unfortunately, we were duped.

“After a series of engagements, we have now come to terms with the fact that we have been swindled out of our hard-earned money. He threatened on February 4 to revoke the contract of sales for the land purchased from him, saying that he would refund the exact sum of N2 million paid to him in November 2022, which is a breach of contractual agreement.”

Ayim told FIJ that he does not trust the promises of those plots in Abuja anymore and wants his money for the car he sold in 2023 now.

FIJ called Okechi for the first time on May 27.

“That is a lie,” he told this reporter.

“I don’t know why people lie for no reason.”

After thanking FIJ for reaching out to him, Okechi said that Ayim was planning to use FIJ to blackmail him. It was good that FIJ was trying to balance the story, he said.

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The stories of the cars and the three plots of land were similar. Where Okechi told FIJ that Ayim lied was in the actual figure he owed and the nature of the land he sold.

“They only bought two pieces of land. I gifted them the third piece of land because we seemed to be doing good business together,” Okechi explained.

“What I owe for that car is just N2.5 million, and I have already told him that I will pay the balance.

“This car he sold to me was an ‘accidented’ car, but he sold it to me as if it was a new car. I bought that car for my wife, but she couldn’t even use it. I drove it for three months and had to stop using it.

“I have spent roughly N3 million on just repairs for this car. If I had known that it was an accidented vehicle, I wouldn’t have agreed to buy it for N7.5 million. I decided to pay the balance so that they wouldn’t say that I used the condition of the car as an excuse not to pay for the car.”

Ayim told FIJ that he sold a UK-used car and not a faulty vehicle.

This reporter spoke to Okechi twice, and he said that he was going to send pictures to show that the car was bad and its engine was bad, but he never sent those pictures.

FIJ sent Okechi a reminder SMS text on July 8 with a phone number and email address to receive the pictures he promised. The text had received no response at press time.

Okechi also explained that Ayim’s wife insulted and cursed him on the phone.

He said that Ayim’s wife’s behaviour offended him and he was surprised when they claimed that he sold fake plots of land to them. He said that he invited them to fly to Abuja to see their plots but they refused, even when he told Ayim that he was willing to bear the cost.

Okechi assured FIJ in May that he intended to pay the balance for the car in June. He said that he had found a buyer who would pay in June. Okechi said that once he resold the car, he would send the money to Ayim.

FIJ informed Ayim and encouraged him to wait for Okechi’s payment.

Ayim called to inform FIJ that he had not received the payment in the first week of July.

When FIJ called Okechi, he said that the buyer would pay soon and he would send Ayim’s balance in the second week of July.

“No, he has not. He has not made any payment yet,” Ayim told this reporter on Friday.