Human rights activist and former African Action Congress presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has withdrawn his request to compel the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Oluwatosin Ajayi, to testify in his ongoing alleged criminal defamation trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Sowore informed the court on Tuesday that the evidence he had intended to obtain from the DSS chief could instead be presented by another official of the agency.
His decision followed objections raised by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who appeared on behalf of the Federal Government during the proceedings.
Fagbemi argued that the subpoena issued against the DSS Director-General should be set aside because the document Ajayi was expected to produce was neither written nor signed by him.
The Attorney General further told the court that the document in question—a letter asking Sowore to delete a Facebook post in which he allegedly described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal”—had already been admitted as evidence on two separate occasions.
He also noted that the author of the letter, Uwen Davis, had testified before the court on July 22 as a defence witness, making Ajayi’s appearance unnecessary.
Sowore’s counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), initially challenged the Attorney General’s intervention, arguing that another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Akinlolu Kehinde, was already representing the Federal Government in the case.
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The defence also maintained that while the Attorney General has the constitutional authority to intervene in legal proceedings, the defence ought to have been notified before he assumed responsibility for the prosecution.
Earlier in the hearing, Justice Mohammed Umar confirmed that the subpoena had been served on the DSS through the agency’s Director of Legal Services after receiving confirmation from the court registrar.
The Federal Government, however, insisted that Ajayi was unaware of the subpoena and urged the court to vacate the order while directing the defence to proceed with its case.
Following the arguments, Sowore informed the court that he would no longer pursue the request for the DSS Director-General to appear as a witness, acknowledging that the required evidence could be obtained from another official of the service.
Justice Umar subsequently adjourned the matter until August 3 for the continuation of the defence.