By Deborah Adeyefa
Human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has withdrawn his request to subpoena the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi, in his ongoing criminal defamation trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The development occurred during proceedings on Tuesday after arguments by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who challenged the necessity of compelling the DSS chief to testify.
Sowore had sought the appearance of Ajayi to provide evidence relating to a letter allegedly issued to him by the DSS concerning a Facebook post in which he reportedly described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal.”
However, Fagbemi argued that the subpoena should be vacated because the document in question was neither authored nor signed by the DSS Director-General. He further maintained that the letter had already been admitted as evidence before the court on two separate occasions.
According to the Attorney-General, the author of the letter, identified as Uwen Davis, had already testified in the matter on July 22, making any further testimony by the DSS Director-General unnecessary.
During the proceedings, counsel to Sowore, Chief Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), initially questioned the Attorney-General’s intervention, noting that another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Akinlolu Kehinde, had previously appeared as counsel for the Federal Government in the matter.
He argued that while the Attorney-General possesses constitutional authority to intervene in any criminal proceeding, the defence ought to have been formally notified before the prosecution was assumed directly by the AGF.
Earlier, Justice Mohammed Umar was informed by the court registrar that the subpoena had already been served on the Director of Legal Services of the DSS on behalf of the agency.
The Federal Government, however, insisted that the DSS Director-General was unaware of the service and urged the court to set aside the subpoena.
Following the submissions, Sowore informed the court that he would no longer insist on Ajayi’s appearance, acknowledging that the evidence he intended to obtain could be provided through another DSS official.
Justice Umar subsequently adjourned the case until August 3 for the continuation of the defence.
The trial centres on allegations of criminal defamation arising from Sowore’s social media comments and has attracted considerable public attention due to its implications for freedom of expression and the limits of political criticism in Nigeria.
