A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has upheld the right of journalists to refuse to disclose their sources of information, except in matters involving a breach of national security or where the information has a direct link to a case before the court.
The court also affirmed its power to subpoena a journalist to give evidence in a case before it. Justice Simon Amobeda, the presiding judge, made the pronouncement during proceedings in a case involving Dala Dry Inland Port, between former Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and the former Managing Director of the port, Ahmad Rabiu.
The ruling followed arguments between prosecution counsel, S.O. Ekwe, and Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, SAN, counsel to the defendant, in a suit instituted by the Inspector-General of Police against Ahmad Rabiu, founder of Dala Dry Inland Port. The police accused Rabiu of being the source of a defamatory and cyberstalking report against Ganduje published by an online media platform.
At the resumed hearing of the case, with reference number FHC/KN/CR/378/2025, the prosecution counsel applied to bring Abubakar Ahmadu Maishanu, a reporter with Premium Times, to the witness box as the prosecution’s final witness.
The online media platform had published a report in September last year titled Investigation: Ganduje embroiled in Multi-billion naira Kano Dry port ownership scandal, which alleged that the former governor converted 20 shares belonging to Kano State to himself and made his two sons directors in the company. The report led to the arrest of Rabiu and his arraignment
