Nasiru Haladu Danu, a businessman, has signaled his intention to pursue legal recourse against the online publication Peoples Gazette. This comes in response to a story that branded him a 'notorious fraudster' and associated him with alleged corruption regarding the awarding of a N22 billion contract in the aviation sector.
In a formal communication dated March 4, 2026, directed to the Editor-in-Chief of Peoples Gazette, Danu's attorneys, Aliyu & Musa (SAN) Legal Practitioners and Consultants, requested the immediate retraction and a public apology concerning what they termed a 'highly defamatory publication' released on March 3.
The contested report, headlined “Exclusive: Keyamo awards N22 billion NAMA headquarters project to notorious fraudster Nasiru Danu as mindless looting rages under Bola Tinubu,” reportedly accused Danu of involvement in corruption, money laundering, misappropriation of public funds, passport fraud, among other forms of criminal activity.
Describing the publication as misleading, Danu, who is also a philanthropist and holds the traditional titles of Sardaunan Dutse in Jigawa State and Tafida Babban Daura in Katsina State, asserted that the article incorrectly depicted him as a criminal and fugitive.
Through his lawyers, he dismissed the allegations as 'false, malicious and reckless,' asserting that he has never faced criminal charges or been declared wanted by either Nigerian or international authorities.
"For the record, at no time was our client either convicted or declared wanted by any security agency anywhere in the world," the legal letter outlined.
Moreover, it rejected claims that Danu had fled Nigeria for Dubai, maintaining that he has been present in the country, actively engaging in various charitable endeavors throughout the period mentioned in the report.
The lawyers also criticized the reporting methods used in the publication regarding the contract allocation for the alleged N22 billion headquarters project of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). They argued that the report failed to demonstrate that the company involved did not qualify under procurement regulations or that it had been deemed unfit by the Bureau of Public Procurement.
According to their statement, Nigerian procurement laws prevent a minister from directly awarding contracts within his ministry or its agencies, indicating that the article misrepresented the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo's, involvement in the contract process.
Danu's legal team is demanding that the publication:
– Withdraw and retract the article from its website and all associated platforms within 24 hours of receiving the letter;
– Post a written public apology to Danu with equal visibility to the original article, both on its website and in two widely circulated national newspapers;
– Stop any further publication or communications that could defame their client.
They granted the newspaper 48 hours for compliance, failing which Danu's representatives indicated that legal action would be forthcoming to safeguard his reputation.
As the time of this report, there has been no public response from Peoples Gazette regarding the potential legal dispute.
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