The Department of State Services, DSS, has accused African Action Congress, AAC, presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore of making an attempt to frustrate his trial over alleged cyberbullying of President Bola Tinubu by looking for to name the company’s lead counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, as a defence witness.
The secret police described the subpoena issued to Kehinde as an abuse of courtroom course of, alleging that it was meant to impede the prosecution and put its lead lawyer in an untenable place.
The DSS acknowledged its place on Tuesday earlier than the Federal High Court in Abuja, the place Justice Mohammed Garba Umar scheduled November 9 to ship a ruling on Sowore’s utility.
During the proceedings, the company’s lawyer, Kenneth Cyril-Ita, requested the courtroom to quash the subpoena obtained by Sowore by means of his counsel, Adeyinka Olumide Fusika, SAN.
“By not setting aside the subpoena, the Court is being invited to deprive the Federal Republic of Nigeria of counsel of its choice in the prosecution of the matter as counsel cannot be a witness and counsel at the same time in the same matter,” Cyril-Ita instructed the courtroom.
He additionally rejected solutions that the prosecution had tried to droop the proceedings or safe an adjournment till 2027.
Cyril-Ita additional argued that any proof regarding whether or not the complainant meant to hunt an adjournment was ruled by Section 83(3) of the Evidence Act.
The DSS consequently requested Justice Umar to invalidate the subpoena and order Sowore to open his defence.
However, Ruben Adakole, who appeared for Sowore, urged the courtroom to dismiss the DSS’s objection and uphold the subpoena, insisting that the defendant ought to be allowed to summon the company’s lead counsel as a witness.
Following arguments from each events, Justice Umar adjourned the case till November 9 for a ruling on the applying.
