A journalist, Jafar Jafar, has been vindicated over a video he published that showed the Kano State’s governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, stuffing bundles of dollars into his pocket. The dollars were suspected to be bribe money the governor collected from a contractor.
The video was published in October 2018. But Ganduje claimed it was doctored. He then filed a libel suit at the Kano State High Court against Jafar and Daily Nigerian, an online newspaper published by Jafar.
But on June 28, 2021, Ganduje, through his lawyer, E.O.B Offiong, said he would no longer continue with the case. He did not give any reason for the discontinuation of the case.
Counsel to Daily Nigerian and Jafar, Muhammad Dan’Azumi, argued that Ganduje’s lawsuit was baseless, gold-digging and of no substance whatsoever.
The lawyer asked the court to direct the plaintiff to issue a public apology to the defendant in at least two national daily newspapers aside from paying exemplary damages.
Justice S. B. Namalam ordered the governor to pay Jaafar and DAILY NIGERIAN the sum of N400,000 each as damages
for wasting their time and attempting to damage their reputations.