Legit.ng has been named the winner of Excellence in Digital Journalism & News Reporting, Nigeria, at the Global Brands Awards 2026, an honour announced on 2 October 2026 by London-based Global Brands Magazine. The award places Legit.ng on the programme's Media, PR and Publications winners' list, which this year features 24 organisations from markets across four continents. Legit.ng is the only Nigerian digital news publisher in that category and the only news outlet on the list, which otherwise includes public relations, communications, advertising, and media agencies.
Newsroom Sees Award as a Daily Practice Verdict
Inside the Legit.ng newsroom, the title has been received less as a trophy and more as a reflection of how the desks operate every day. Rahaman Abiola, Editor-in-Chief of Legit.ng, said the recognition belongs to the reporters who prioritise verification before publication, even when no one is watching. “This belongs to reporters who verify before they publish, and who keep doing it on the days nobody is watching,” Abiola said. “Being the only Nigerian newsroom on that list tells us the standard we hold in Lagos reads the same way in Dubai.”
Dubai Ceremony Marks 14th Global Brands Awards
Global Brands Magazine held its 14th awards ceremony at Address Sky View in Dubai, bringing together recipients from banking, energy, aviation, technology, and property sectors. Guests at the presentations included Yaqoob Al Ali, Executive Director and Private Advisor at the Office of His Highness Sheikh Juma Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, and Dr Sunil Ambalavelil, Global Executive Chairman of Kaden Boriss. Jay Reddy, Chief Executive Officer of Global Brands Magazine, closed the presentations by congratulating all 2026 winners and thanking the guests, speakers, and partners who participated in the Dubai ceremony.
Judging Based on Performance and Consistency
Global Brands Magazine says its research evaluates performance, innovation, customer experience, and consistency within each company's own market, rather than relying on size alone. The 2026 cycle followed an evaluation of 18,000 companies, according to the programme's account of this year's selection. That market-by-market reading is what placed a Nigerian newsroom alongside global agency names in the same category.
Award Adds to Run of International Recognition
Legit.ng's Hausa desk previously won Best Use of AI in the Newsroom at WAN-IFRA's Digital Media Awards Africa in 2025, an award based on the desk's work in delivering news to Hausa speakers in their own language. Four years before that, the platform was named Best News Website at the 2021 Africa Digital Media Awards, also organised by the World Association of News Publishers. Legit.ng began publishing in 2012 and now operates desks covering politics, business, current affairs, entertainment, sports, and human interest, with Hausa-language reporting alongside its English output.
