Nigeria’s much-anticipated reality TV show, Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) Season 9, will be kickstarted on Sunday, July 28, organisers of the show have stated.
The organisers took to the official social media handles of the reality TV show on Friday to make the announcement.
“#BBNaija Season 9 is HERE!
This is a must-follow Season!
Get ready for double the drama, ships, and HUGE competition!
Cameras 24/7 for 71 days.”
The premiere of the reality TV show is slated for 7pm WAT and it’s being sponsored by Guinness Nigeria Plc.
Related post: Ilebaye, BBNaija All-Stars winner, gets N120M cheque, Innoson SUV
A few days earlier, on July 1, the organisers had dropped teasers about the upcoming new season starting later this month.
“One Sunday in July, Get Ready! What’s better than One? Remember to mark your calendars! #BBNaijaS9,” they had written.
There were no details yet about the grand prize to be won by the lucky ‘couple’ and other consolation prizes as male and female housemates pairing is the new twist expected in Season 9 edition of the reality TV show.
Phyna complains
Straightnews gathered that the winner of the 2022 Big Brother Naija (BBN), ‘Level Up’ edition, Josephine Otabor has called out the organisers of the reality TV show for failing to fulfil pledge of over N100 million worth of prizes to her.
Josephina Otabor, popularly known as Phyna, has declined a new offer from Multichoice, the organisers of the Big Brother reality show, regarding her prize.
Phyna, who won the2022 BBNaija edition, was promised a significant package of prizes. This included 1btc from Quidax Global, a one-year supply of Pepsi products from Seven-Up Bottling Company (Pepsi), a trip for two persons to Dubai from Travelbeta, and a one-year supply of soap products from Evans Industries (Unik soap).
Almost two years later, the 26-year-old called out Multichoice on her social media pages, accusing them of not giving her the prizes she won and reneging on their promise. To this end, Multichoice has been discussing with Phyna’s legal team to resolve the issue.
Shortly after Phyna’s claim, the Practitioners of Content Creating, Skit-making, and Influencers Guild of Nigeria (PCCSIGN), in a statement, appealed to Multichoice on behalf of Phyna to expedite the release of her outstanding prizes.
Phyna joined the 7th season of Big Brother Naija (Level Up) as the tenth housemate on 23 July 2022.
During the season finale on 2 October 2022, she emerged as the winner, securing 40.74 per cent of the final votes, surpassing Bryann, who received 26.74 per cent of the total votes cast. As the winner, Phyna earned the ₦100,000,000 (one hundred million naira) grand prize.
She emerged the second female to claim victory in the show, following Mercy Eke’s win three years earlier.
The Big Brother Naija started in Nigeria on March 5, 2006.