The Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected the bid by presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, to compel counsel to the Department of State Services (DSS), Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, to testify in his ongoing alleged cyberbullying trial for calling President Bola Tinubu a “criminal.
Monday’s ruling is the fifth loss suffered by Sowore in the course of this trial.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Mohammed Umar set aside the subpoena earlier issued against Kehinde, holding that lawyers owe their clients a strict duty of confidentiality and cannot ordinarily be compelled to disclose communications relating to legal representation.
The judge further explained that a legal practitioner could only be compelled to testify under limited circumstances, particularly where the evidence sought relates to an uncontested matter or an issue that would not prejudice the interests of the client.
Following the ruling, defence counsel, R.O. Adakole, informed the court of the defence’s intention to subpoena 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, and subsequently 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.
In rejecting the politician’s request, to compel the DG’s appearance to testify on official activities of the DSS relating to the cyberbullying case instituted against him, the court upheld the counter-application of the DSS represented by Akinlolu Thomas Kehinde, SAN, that any other high-ranking official of the agency could testify on his behalf. Consequently, one Michael Jego, an investigating officer of the DSS, was delegated to represent the secret police 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 on grounds of alleged bias.
On May 8, 2026, Justice Umar dismissed Sowore’s no-case submission. He ruled that the DSS presented sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case, and ordered him to enter his defence.
A month earlier, the court dismissed a preliminary objection to the legality of the trial.
The court also dismissed an application by Sowore that the trial be aborted on the ground that it breached his fundamental human rights.
On April 2, Justice Umar refused to grant any of the three reliefs sought by Sowore in a fundamental rights enforcement suit he instituted against the DSS, its DG, as well as Meta Corp., owners of Facebook and “X”.
“The law will frown at any expression that will cast aspersion on others in the name of expressing the constitutional right to freedom of expression,” ruled the judge, even as he awarded awarded a cost of N1.5 million against Sowore, at N500,000 to each of the three respondents.
