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Despite persistent calls from genuine advocates of good governance for an atmosphere conducive to flourishing democracy and freedom in Nigeria, the reactionary wing of the ruling class and its agents are giving no chance of this happening. The more they are caught red-handed – with self-incriminating evidence – and exposed in the very act of a crime, the more they develop the liver to hijack and revenge.
Abdullahi Ganduje, the 72-year-old governor of Kano state, ranks first among state officials who appear determined to punish journalists for doing nothing other than acting in accordance with demands of their profession. Recall that in October 2018, Jaafar Jaafar, journalist and editor of the Daily Nigerian, published a video of about two minutes showing Ganduje hastily pushing dollar balls that would total $ 230,000 in his caftan as part of a $ 5 million bribe from contractors. . It was rare investigative work with revealing impact.
The outrageous video reverberated across the country, prompting intensely cynical comments about the ruling Congressional government All Progressives and its high-profile fight against corruption. Obviously deeply troubled, Ganduje appealed to Muhammad Garba, the State Information Commissioner, to deny the authenticity of the video. Garba then released a statement saying there was no “iota of truth” in the entire package and describing the video as “cloned.” He said the governor would go to court to seek redress.
As the veil of embarrassment generated by the video thickened and widened, the presidency’s reaction was to promise a full investigation after President Muhammadu Buhari allegedly saw the video. Of course, everyone knows that Ganduje is a privileged ally of President Buhari. And like all those lucky enough to be in the right books or enjoy the privileges of this exclusive corridor of influence, the outcome of this promised investigation was easily predictable.
Suffice it to say, however, that at the time of writing, no presidential panel was known to have been set up to investigate the video, let alone publish a report in this regard. There was also no official statement from the presidency beyond the request for an investigation. In fact, Buhari himself, in one case, said he marveled at the technology behind the production of the video. So much for his much-vaunted fight against corruption.
But the Kano State Assembly has taken a step that could be described as significant, albeit patently timid given the well-known servile attitude of lawmakers towards governors in this climate. The assembly set up a seven-man committee to unravel the validity of the video and invited Jaafar, who appeared and argued that the video was real. It was a golden opportunity for Ganduje to also appear at the hearing and counter the journalist with his own facts. He was nowhere in sight. And as expected, the committee has not submitted any known reports to date.
Since the video was posted, Jafaar has not known peace. Threats over threats and intimidation from known and unknown circles have accumulated to make her life difficult. Ganduje went to court as he had promised, but as can be seen, not to seek justice but to enlist and deploy the court as a tool to intimidate and suffocate journalists like Jaafar and active citizens who speak out against the acts reprehensible and hold leaders to account.
Going to court, Ganduje and others like him give the impression that they are following due process. But this is all wrong. What they’re actually engaged in is called Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, SLAPP for short. This is a euphemism for an abuse of the law to end vital public interest surveillance and public access to information. Often times these powerful criminals who have been discovered by the press and exposed in public know they have no case, but they have continued to hire big lawyers and go to court for redress, in most cases. looking for flexible judges who will make their offer, which is nothing more than revenge with heavy fines and thus muzzle the press.
This is exactly what Ganduje does to Jaafar, who has since fled the country following growing threats to his life. Barely a month after the video was released, the governor sued him and the Daily Nigerian for libel in the Kano High Court and demanded 3 billion naira in damages. Either way, there has been no progress on the matter and suddenly, in June of this year, the governor withdrew the case from court for no reason. Daily Trust reported that the court fined him N 800,000 for the action.
Many people believed that with the withdrawal of the case from court, some relief had come to Jaafar. They were wrong. Ganduje traveled all the way from Kano to Abuja to tighten the screw harder in a CTF High Court, this time claiming 5 billion naira in damages for alleged libel. No citizen deserves this kind of orchestrated persecution, let alone a journalist who was just doing their job.
Fortunately, Amnesty International (AI) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), as they always would in cases like this, have called on Ganduje and the Nigerian government to ensure that neither Jaafar nor his family face reprisals for his journalism. If there is anything the journalist deserves, it is to be commended for fulfilling his constitutional obligation to hold power to account as his profession enjoins, and for his patriotic act of embracing the ‘This government’s call for citizens to help fight corruption by speaking out against corrupt practices and other types of wrongdoing whenever they see it.
To that extent, Ganduje will do well to free Jaafar and his family from the protracted trauma they have been subjected to for about three years now. The new lawsuit that the governor has taken in Abuja is completely unnecessary and should be withdrawn immediately so that the journalist can resume the practice of the profession which was the only source of income for him and his family.
Now is also the time to call on lawyers to always support press freedom as enshrined in article 22 of the 1999 constitution. It should not all be about money. Lawyers must show a strong sense of discrimination in the briefs they collect. Journalists are not criminals; therefore, they should be supported to do their work in an atmosphere of freedom. Lawyers must learn to say NO to briefs aimed at intimidating journalists and knowingly gagging the press or aimed at harassing or further threatening citizens (whistleblowers), including Jaafar, who has shown courage in denouncing misdemeanors.
*Godwin Onyeacholem coordinates the whistleblower project, Corruption Anonymous, at the African Center for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL).
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