Online publisher and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has withdrawn his bid to call the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, as a defence witness in his ongoing criminal defamation trial involving President Bola Tinubu.
At the resumed hearing before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, Sowore informed the court that the evidence he had sought from the DSS boss could instead be provided by any other official of the Service.
The hearing also marked the first appearance of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who personally led the prosecution on behalf of the Federal Government.
Fagbemi opposed the subpoena issued to the DSS Director-General, arguing that the document in question was neither authored by Ajayi nor required his testimony. He noted that the letter, in which the DSS advised Sowore to delete social media posts describing President Tinubu as a “criminal”, had already been admitted in evidence twice.
The Attorney-General further stated that the author of the letter, Mr. Uwen Davis, had testified as a defence witness on July 22, making any further testimony on the same document unnecessary since it was already before the court.
Sowore’s counsel, Adeyinka Olumide Fusika, SAN, objected to the Attorney-General’s appearance, contending that Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, remained the counsel on record for the Federal Government.
After hearing both sides, Justice Muhammed Umar adjourned the case until Monday, August 3, for the continuation of Sowore’s defence.
