Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
Human rights activist and former African Action Congress presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has withdrawn his request to subpoena the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Oluwatosin Ajayi, in his ongoing alleged criminal defamation trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Sowore told the court on Tuesday that the evidence he sought from the DSS chief could instead be provided by another official of the agency, prompting him to abandon the request.
The development came after the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), opposed the subpoena and asked the court to set it aside.
Fagbemi argued that the document the DSS Director-General was expected to produce was neither authored nor signed by him. He further stated that the document had already been admitted in evidence twice during the proceedings.
According to the Attorney General, the letter in question was written to Sowore, requesting the deletion of a Facebook post in which he allegedly described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal”.
He added that the letter’s author, Uwen Davis, had already testified for the defence on July 22, making Ajayi’s appearance unnecessary.
Earlier, Sowore’s counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), challenged the Attorney General’s intervention, noting that another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Akinlolu Kehinde, was already listed as counsel for the Federal Government in the matter.
Olumide-Fusika also argued that although the Attorney General has constitutional authority to appear in any case, the defence should have been notified before he assumed conduct of the prosecution.
Before arguments on the subpoena, the court confirmed that it had been served through the DSS Director of Legal Services after the court registrar informed Justice Mohammed Umar that service had been effected.
The Federal Government, however, maintained that Ajayi was unaware of the service and urged the court to vacate the subpoena and direct the defence to continue its case.
After hearing submissions from both sides, Sowore informed the court that he would no longer insist on the DSS chief’s appearance.
Justice Umar subsequently adjourned the matter until August 3 for the continuation of the defence case.
