Sowore wants court to call SSS boss and Tinubu's spokesperson as witnesses

Sahara Reporters publisher Omoyele Sowore's legal team has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that they want the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Adeola Ajayi, and presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, to come and testify in his cyberbullying trial.

Sowore's lead lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, made this known after an SSS official, Uwem Davies, failed to answer some questions from the defence on Wednesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sowore, who is the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) for the upcoming 2027 elections, is being prosecuted for making false claims about Mr Tinubu. He called Tinubu “a criminal” in his posts on X and Facebook last year.

The SSS has charged Sowore with criminal defamation, cyberstalking, and incitement due to his posts about Tinubu, who is also running for a second term in the presidential election next year.

Davies, who came as a witness, said he is the Principal Officer, General Services at the SSS. He confirmed that the court asked him to testify at Sowore's request.

He admitted that he wrote a letter, on the order of the SSS Director General, asking Sowore to take down his post on social media because it was causing tension in society. The letter, dated January 22, was the only one he wrote asking Sowore to retract his statements about President Bola Tinubu.

When shown a letter dated September 2025 that was sent to the MD, CEO of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Davies said the letter had his name but he did not write it. He mentioned that B. Bamigboye, who was also subpoenaed, was his former colleague who has since retired.

Davies stated that he did not speak with Sowore before writing the letter but acted on the orders of the SSS Director General, Mr Ajayi. When asked about his and Ajayi's relationship with Tinubu, he said he could not confirm if they were supporters of the president.

He insisted that as an SSS lawyer, he was told by the DG to write to Sowore to take back his alleged false post about the president. On whether he talked to Tinubu's supporters before writing the letter, Davies said he did not, but wrote it as directed by his employer.

At this point, Olumide-Fusika told the court he would have to subpoena the DG of the SSS because Davies had not answered his questions satisfactorily. Davies clarified that he was acting in his official role, not personally.

He confirmed that the subpoena he submitted was served on the SSS and that it was given to him in his official capacity. He stated that he and Bamigboye worked in the same department but Bamigboye had retired and his current location was unknown to the SSS.

Davies explained that Bamigboye wrote the letter to the Chairman/CEO of X Corp on behalf of the DG of SSS regarding this case. He added that Bamigboye wrote the letter in his official capacity.

Davies mentioned he had a copy of the letter with him. Mr Kehinde then asked to submit both documents as evidence. But Olumide-Fusika objected, and the judge agreed with the objection.

Though Olumide-Fusika said he had 20 witnesses to call, he requested an adjournment to prepare for a subpoena for the DG of SSS. He also asked for a subpoena to be issued for Tinubu's spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga. However, he mentioned that the court's bailiff could not serve Onanuga with the subpoena.

Earlier, the court turned down an uncertified document Sowore presented as part of his defence. Justice Umar refused the request after Sowore's lawyer, Olumide-Fusika, asked to submit the document through the third defence witness, Wayne Chikezie Elijah.

During his evidence, Mr Elijah told the court on Wednesday that he was part of Sowore's former legal team. He said he had accepted some court documents from the prosecution on Sowore's behalf.

The defence lawyer then asked Elijah to produce the document, and he brought out a copy. Olumide-Fusika applied to submit it as evidence, but the prosecution lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, raised an objection.

Kehinde argued that the document was a court document, which could only be accepted as a certified true copy or the original. Ruling on the matter, Justice Umar overruled Olumide-Fusika's argument that certification was not needed since it came from the prosecution.

The judge explained that the document was from a witness who claimed to be a former lawyer in the case. He said the need for certification was to ensure the document was not altered.

“Having been in the custody of the said counsel, how is the court sure that the document has not been tampered with? The document is rejected and marked as such,” the judge ruled.

Under cross-examination by prosecution lawyer Kehinde, Elijah confirmed that he was in and out of the courtroom while the second defence witness was testifying during Wednesday’s proceedings. “My lord, I was in and out of the courtroom. The CCTV of the court can confirm that I was indeed in and out of the courtroom,” he said.

Justice Umar has adjourned the case until July 28 for the continuation of the defence.