Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has filed an application before Kano High Court to discontinue the libel charges against an online newspaper, Daily Nigeria, and its publisher, Jaafar Jaafar.

Ganduje
Commission rejects govs financial director nomineeGovernor Abdullahi Ganduje has filed an application before Kano High Court to discontinue the libel charges against an online newspaper, Daily Nigeria, and its publisher, Jaafar Jaafar.
The plaintiff had instituted court action against the defendants over a story published in 2018 entitled Nigeria Governor Caught on Video Receiving $5 million bribes, with a series of video clips showing someone receiving kickback in foreign currency.
Although there was no official confirmation, the publisher had claimed the images in the clips that went viral on social media were that of the governor and the contractor exchanging kickback in multiple foreign currencies.
Consequently, the governor slammed the publisher over N100 million damages for character defamation, while seeking perpetual injunction restricting the defendants from further publishing and sharing the contents on any media.
Meanwhile, in an application on notice before Kano High Court and dated June 28, 2021, the applicant sought a court order to withdraw the suit. The application filed by lead counsel to the applicant, Chief E.O.B Offiong wanted the court to discontinue the case for reasons not yet in the public domain.
Efforts to reach the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Musa Lawan, was not successful.
The case has been slated for mention on the July 6, 2021.
MEANWHILE, the Chairman, Kano Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, Muhuyi Rimin-Gado, yesterday, rejected the deployment of a financial director for the commission.
Besides, Rimin-Gado lamented undue interference in the activities of the commission within the government that anointed him for the job.
Rimin-Gado, who is presently investigating alleged fraud in the ministry of works, revealed that the agent remained an independent commission and would not be subjected to any civil service rules.
The state accountant general recently deployed a senior officer from the ministry of finance to oversee the financial management of the anti-graft agency, The Guardian learnt.
But a written memo signed by the chairman of the commission, who insisted the action violated the extant laws that established the commission, countered the deployment.
Speaking on a popular local radio morning programme yesterday, the chairman declared that he was not afraid of losing his job, if that remained the option for him to compromise its entrusted responsibility.