The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has ruled in favor of businessman and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasiru Danu, in his defamation suit against Sahara Reporters.
In the certified true copy of the judgment made available to PREMIUM TIMES, the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Zubairu, awarded N20 million as compensation against Sahara Reporters for articles published on its website on the 5th and 9th. March 2021, respectively.
Justice Zubairu also awarded an additional N15 million against Sahara Reporters as aggravated and exemplary damages.
Additionally, the judge ordered Sahara Reporters to retract the publication and publish an unreserved apology on its website addressed to Mr. Danu.
“It should be noted that the Defendant's failure or refusal to justify this publication against the Plaintiff and also his failure to retract or delete the publication has further demonstrated the malicious intent of that publication.
“Accordingly, the only issue pending determination is affirmatively resolved. I am convinced beyond a doubt that Plaintiff has satisfied the requirements of the law in proving his claim. against the defendant.
“I have carefully reviewed the entirety of the allegations, evidence and submissions of the Plaintiff's counsel in support of his claim and am of the firm opinion that the Plaintiff has met all the elements required to prove the tort of defamation, not only because the Defendant decided to stay away for the entire duration of this lawsuit, but because Plaintiff has provided credible evidence to prove it.
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“There was a publication; ii) the publication was written by the Respondent; iii) the publication refers to the Claimant; iv) the publication contains derogatory statements against the Claimant; v) the publication is false and; vi) the publication was communicated to a third party via the Internet (which qualifies as communication to the entire world),” the ruling reads.
Nasiru Danu's defamation lawsuit
In an article published on March 5, 2021, Sahara Reporters reported that Danu and some senior officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) defrauded the Nigerian government of N51 billion meant for the improvement of the NCS.
Danu was also described as an “arrowhead of what is now known in some circles as President Muhammadu Buhari’s oil mafia group.”
In another article published on March 9 of the same year, Sahara Reporters claimed that the APC chief had fled the country to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to “avoid being investigated.”
Following the publications, Danu, in a letter addressed to Sahara Reporters by his lawyer, Bode Olanipekun of Wole Olanipekun & Co., denied all allegations leveled against him in the reports.
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He also demanded the retraction of the post on the official website and Twitter account of Sahara Reporters.
On February 18, 2022, Danu filed a defamation suit worth N6 billion against Sahara Reporters as damages for the publication and circulation of slander contained in articles written and published by the news outlet.
Omoyele Sowore, editor of Sahara Reporters, reacts
In a Whats App chat with this reporter, Sahara Reporters editor Omoyele Sowore said his publication was not notified of the lawsuit and therefore did not defend itself.
Sahara Reporters lawyer Inibehe Effiong corroborated Mr. Sowore saying: “I am not aware of any such case or the ruling handed down in this regard. Sahrawi journalists don't know it either. If someone files a lawsuit against an organization, a company or an individual, the defendant must be notified.”
Responding to the court's statement that Sahara Reporters was served through substitute means, Mr Effiong said any method adopted did not bring the case to the notice of Sahara Reporter.
“The law is that even if you are serving by substituted means, the mode of service must be one that is capable of bringing that claim to the attention of the defendant,” he said.
DOWNLOAD THE FULL JUDGMENT HERE: JUDGMENT IN NASIRU DANU V. SAHARA REPORTERS INC.