By Stellamaris | Anambra
The Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected a bid by the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, to compel the counsel to the Department of State Services (DSS), to testify in his ongoing trial over alleged cyberbullying.
Sowore is accused of calling President Bola Tinubu a “criminal.”Monday’s ruling is the fifth loss Sowore has suffered in the course of the trial.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Mohammed Umar set aside the subpoena earlier issued against Kehinde. He held that lawyers owe their clients a strict duty of confidentiality and cannot ordinarily be compelled to disclose communications relating to legal representation.
The judge explained that a legal practitioner can be compelled to testify only in limited circumstances, particularly where the evidence sought relates to an uncontested matter or an issue that would not prejudice the client’s interests.
After the ruling, defence counsel R.O. Adakole told the court the defence intended to subpoena the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Joe Igbokwe, as witnesses.
Justice Umar granted the request and directed that subpoenas be issued to the proposed witnesses to appear before the court. He then adjourned the matter until November 11, 2026, for the appearance of the subpoenaed defence witnesses.
In mid-October, the court rejected a similar subpoena Sowore issued to the DSS Director-General, Oluwatosin Ajayi, seeking to compel his appearance as a witness in the trial. Sowore wanted him to testify on the official activities of the DSS relating to the cyberbullying case against him.
In rejecting the request, the court upheld a counter-application by the DSS, represented by Kehinde, that any other high-ranking official of the agency could testify on its behalf. Consequently, an investigating officer of the DSS, Michael Jego, was delegated to represent the agency in the trial.
On June 22, 2026, Justice Umar ordered that Sowore be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja, a week after revoking his bail. The judge rejected Sowore’s request that he step aside from the matter over alleged bias. On May 8, 2026, Justice Umar dismissed Sowore’s no-case submission. He ruled that the DSS had presented sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case and ordered Sowore to enter his defence.
A month earlier, the court dismissed a preliminary objection to the legality of the trial. It also dismissed an application by Sowore asking that the trial be aborted on the ground that it breached his fundamental human rights.
Justice Umar refused all three reliefs Sowore sought in a fundamental rights enforcement suit he filed against the DSS, its Director-General, and Meta Corp. The judge said the law frowns on any expression that casts aspersions on others in the name of freedom of expression. He also awarded costs of N1.5 million against Sowore, at N500,000 to each of the three respondents.
