The Court of Appeal Sokoto Division, has upheld the decision of Sokoto State High Court that dismissed a case against Leadership newspaper and it’s reporter, Sharfaddeen Sidi Umar.
Umar was allegedly accused of defaming the former Chairman of the Sokoto State Council of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Labaran Lumo Dundaye, through the newspaper.
The judgement was read by Justice Victoria Nwoye, on behalf of others upheld lower court decision to dismissed the appeal.
Newsmen recalled that Dundaye, filed the suit in 2016, sued LEADERSHIP as the first defendant and Sokoto State LEADERSHIP Hausa reporter, Sidi Umar as the second defendant seeking N50 million as damages and apology to be published in three national newspapers.
The High Court Judge, Umar Dogon-Daji in his judgement, held that the plaintiff had failed miserably in presenting strong evidence against which he accused the defendants of.
The judge said that in all the three publications in LEADERSHIP Hausa in 2012 and 2015 relating to NUJ Sokoto election, Labaran failed to present any actual defamation statement.
Judge also held that the plaintiff had failed to present a third piece of evidence to substantiate the allegations of defamation, adding that the plaintiff had convinced the court that instead of the plaintiff’s integrity being squandered, further progress had been made after the publications.
About The Author
