fourth setback for sowore as court declines to force dss boss for testimony
The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2027 general election, Omoyele Sowore, on Monday suffered another legal setback as the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed his bid to compel the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi, to personally appear in court as a witness in his trial for allegedly cyberbullying President Bola Tinubu.
Justice Mohammed Garba Umar, delivering ruling on the application, held that the subpoena issued to the DSS Director General concerned an official act of the agency and that the expected testimony was not personal to the DG.
The court consequently ruled that another DSS official could appear to give evidence on the agency’s behalf.
Monday’s ruling marks the fourth loss Sowore has suffered since the DSS approached the court to determine the propriety of his calling President Tinubu “a criminal.”
Previously, the court had dismissed his application that the trial breached his fundamental human rights, and also dismissed his preliminary objection to the matter. On the third occasion, the Chief Judge rejected Sowore’s bid for the recusal of the trial judge.
Through his lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide Fusika, SAN, Sowore had sought an order of the court to compel the DG’s appearance to testify on official activities of the DSS relating to the cyberbullying case instituted against him.
However, the DSS, represented by Akinlolu Thomas Kehinde, SAN, had opposed the move, arguing that another official of the agency could testify on his behalf.
The senior lawyer argued that it was absurd for Sowore to insist on the DSS DG’s appearance in court in an action that was purely official and not personal, stressing that since the action of the DSS in putting Sowore on trial was institutional, any official delegated by the organisation could testify for the establishment.
Following the ruling, defence counsel Fusika SAN called the third defence witness, Michael Jego, an investigating officer with the DSS, who is currently being led in evidence.
The trial continues
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