16th July, 2021
The libel war between Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and Daily Nigerian and its publisher Jaafar Jaafar is far from over.
Nine days after he withdrew his N3billion suit against the newspaper in a Kano High Court, Ganduje has taken his case to Abuja.
He has filed another defamation case in FCT High Court, DAILY NIGERIAN has reported.
According to the paper, the new Writ of Summon was filed 15 July.
The court has requested the newspaper and its publisher to enter appearance after service of the writ.
“You are hereby commanded that within fourteen days after service of this writ on you, inclusive of the day of such service, you do cause an appearance to be entered for you in an action at the suit of Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje AND TAKE NOTICE, that in default the Claimant may proceed and judgement may be given in your absence,” the writ said.
In October 2018, DAILY NIGERIAN had published video clips of the governor stuffing bundles of dollars, suspected to be a bribe from a contractor, in his pockets.
The governor, subsequently, sued the newspaper and its publisher in November 2018.
He asked the court to declare that “the act of publishing and circulating libellous statements, false video clips on online media, attacking and impugning the character and integrity of the Plaintiff amounts to defamation of character of the Plaintiff by the Defendants”.
But in a dramatic move on 6 July, the governor’s lawyer, Offiong Offiong, a senior advocate, withdrew the suit.
Justice Suleiman NaMalam however ordered Ganduje to pay N800,000 as costs for expenses to Jafar Jafar, the publisher and his company Penlight Media Limited.
Meanwhile, Jaafar Jaafar has a pending matter in Kano, demanding N300m in damages from the governor.