DSS accuses Sowore of deploying dilatory tactics

The Department of State Services (DSS) has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to set aside a subpoena issued by Omoyele Sowore, accusing the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate of trying to delay his trial by calling the lead prosecutor as a defence witness.

The DSS is prosecuting Sowore over posts he published on X and Facebook in August 2025. In the posts, he described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “criminal” and accused him of lying about the level of corruption in Nigeria. In a motion on notice, the DSS argued that Sowore had acted in bad faith by seeking to compel its lead counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), to testify. It described the subpoena as an abuse of court process intended to irritate Kehinde and prolong the trial.

The agency cited Section 192 of the Evidence Act, arguing that a lawyer cannot disclose communications received in the course of representing a client without that client’s consent. It also contended that the testimony Sowore sought was irrelevant to the allegations against him.

The DSS disputed Sowore’s claim that the prosecution was seeking to delay the case until 2027, saying no application to suspend or adjourn the trial until then was before the court. It also cited Section 83(3) of the Evidence Act in challenging the use of a publication Sowore sought to tender on the adjournment issue.

The prosecution argued that allowing the subpoena to stand would deprive the Federal Republic of Nigeria of its chosen counsel because Kehinde could not act as both lawyer and witness in the same case.

At the hearing, prosecution lawyer Kenneth Cyril-Ita urged the court to set aside the subpoena, reiterating the DSS’s claim that it was issued in bad faith to prolong proceedings. The agency asked the court to direct Sowore to continue presenting his defence or close his case if he had no further evidence to present.