The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2027 general election, Omoyele Sowore, has lost his bid to compel the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Tosin Ajayi, to personally testify in his trial over alleged cyberbullying of President Bola Tinubu.
Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed Sowore’s application in a ruling delivered during the proceedings.
The application followed a subpoena issued to the DSS director-general at the request of the defence, seeking to compel him to testify on the agency’s official activities relating to the case against Sowore.
Sowore’s counsel, Adeyinka Fusika, SAN, had asked the court to order Ajayi to appear as a witness.
However, counsel to the DSS, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, opposed the application, arguing that another official of the agency could testify on its behalf.
Kehinde maintained that the case concerned the official functions of the DSS rather than any personal actions of its director-general. He argued that any official delegated by the agency could provide evidence on its behalf.
In his ruling, Justice Umar held that the subpoena related to official acts of the DSS and that the proposed testimony was not personal to Ajayi.
The judge consequently ruled that another DSS official could appear in court to give evidence on behalf of the agency.
Following the ruling, defence counsel Olumide Fusika, SAN, called the third defence witness, Michael Jego, a DSS investigating officer, who was being led in evidence at the time of filing this report.
