A magistrate court in Kano has ordered the police to investigate Jaafar Jaafar, publisher of the online newspaper Daily Nigerian, over allegations of criminal defamation brought against him by a senior aide to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
The case was filed by the Director General of Protocol at the Kano State Government House, Abdullahi Ibrahim Rogo, who accused Jaafar and another defendant, Audu Umar, of describing him as a “thieving aide” to the governor in reports published on August 22 and August 25.
Court documents show the complaint was filed under Sections 106 and 107 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Kano State, 2019, and Sections 114, 164, and 393 of the Penal Code. The complainant is seeking prosecution for alleged criminal defamation and breach of public peace.
The reports cited in the suit include an August 25 article titled “Gov. Yusuf Defends Thieving Aide, Says Protocol Directorate Under Ganduje Spent N20 Billion in 3 Months”, and another on August 22 headlined “Court Documents Reveal How ICPC, EFCC Traced N6.5 Billion to Gov. Yusuf’s DG Protocol.”
Rogo told the court the stories were “false, malicious, and deliberately crafted” to damage his reputation and that of Governor Yusuf. The publications, he said, portrayed him as corrupt despite there being no proven indictment against him.
Magistrate Abdul’aziz M. Habib of Court 15, Nomansland, Kano, on Thursday directed the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone One, to conduct a full-scale investigation into the case. The order was signed by the court registrar following Rogo’s application filed on August 28.
Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, Director General of Media and Publicity to the Kano State Governor, said in a statement that the allegations against Rogo were “a perpetual work of fiction carefully crafted by political opponents who have resorted to blackmail and propaganda in their desperation for relevance.”
A separate civil suit has also been filed at the Kano State High Court, seeking damages against Jaafar and Daily Nigerian.
Police have been instructed to determine whether Jaafar violated journalistic ethics by “making conclusions on a pending investigation and describing someone as a thief merely because that person was under probe by the ICPC,” according to the court filings.
Jaafar, a former journalist with Premium Times, is best known for publishing undercover videos in 2018 that appeared to show then-Kano governor Abdullahi Ganduje receiving bundles of cash in dollars from contractors.