Alleged cyberstalking: Court refuses Sowore’s request to compel DSS DG to testify in trial

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2027 general election, Omoyele Sowore, has failed in his bid to compel the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Tosin Ajayi, to appear personally in court as a witness in his trial before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

Sowore is standing trial for allegedly calling President Bola Tinubu a “criminal” on his Facebook page and X handle.

The trial judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, dismissed Sowore’s application in a ruling on Monday after hearing arguments for and against the subpoena issued to the DSS director-general at the request of the defence.

Sowore, through his lawyer, Adeyinka Fusika, SAN, had sought an order of the court compelling the director-general to testify about the DSS’s official activities relating to the cyberbullying case instituted against him by the Federal Government.

However, the DSS, represented by Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, opposed the application, arguing that another official of the agency could testify on behalf of the director-general.

The senior lawyer argued that it was absurd for Sowore to insist on the DSS director-general’s appearance in court in a case that was purely official and not personal.

He argued that, since the DSS had instituted proceedings against Sowore, any official delegated by the organisation could testify on behalf of the agency.

In his ruling, Justice Umar held that the subpoena concerned an official act of the DSS and that the expected testimony was not personal to the director-general.

The court consequently ruled that another DSS official could appear to give evidence on the agency’s behalf.

Following the ruling, defence counsel Olumide Fusika, SAN, called the third defence witness, Michael Jego, an investigating officer with the DSS, who was led in evidence.

In an amended charge filed on 5 December 2025, Sowore was re-arraigned by the Federal Government on two counts bordering on the alleged defamation of Tinubu in his capacity as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Sowore had pleaded not guilty to the two counts when they were read to him, prompting the DSS to call its witnesses and tender exhibits to establish the cyberbullying charges against him.