Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, has withdrawn his plan to call Oluwatosin Ajayi, Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), as a defence witness in his ongoing trial for alleged criminal defamation.
Sowore, through his Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, counsel informed Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday that he would no longer insist on the appearance of the DSS boss personally.
The development followed arguments by Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, who challenged the validity of the subpoena issued on Ajayi, describing it as an abuse of the court process.
Sowore, who is also the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), is facing charges of criminal defamation, cyberstalking and incitement instituted by the DSS over a social media post in which he allegedly referred to President Bola Tinubu as “a criminal”.
Olumide-Fusika had on July 22 indicated his intention to subpoena the DSS director-general to testify and produce a letter dated September 7, 2025, in which the service asked Sowore to retract the alleged defamatory posts.
The defence lawyer had argued that Ajayi’s appearance was necessary after Uwem Davies, a DSS official and the second defence witness, told the court that he authored the letter on the directive of the director-general.
According to the defence, Ajayi’s testimony would provide further clarification on the circumstances surrounding the letter.
However, proceedings took a different turn when Fagbemi appeared for the prosecution and questioned the competence of the subpoena issued against the DSS boss.
The AGF argued that the subpoena was not properly served on Ajayi and failed to specify when he was required to appear before the court.
He also told the court that the letter the defence sought to examine through the DSS director-general had already been admitted in evidence.
“As a matter of record, this document has been tendered and marked Exhibit D. It was also tendered as Exhibit DWC on July 22, 2026. It was tendered by the defendant,” Fagbemi said.
Fagbemi maintained that while a defendant had the constitutional right to subpoena witnesses in support of his case, such privilege had limits.
He argued that Ajayi was being invited in his official capacity over an official document and not because of any personal allegation against him.
“The DG of DSS is not being subpoenaed to come in his personal capacity. He is being subpoenaed in his official capacity to give evidence in respect of an official letter,” he said.
The AGF urged the court to reject the subpoena, arguing that it was unnecessary since another DSS official had already appeared and testified on the matter.
In response, Olumide-Fusika challenged Fagbemi’s appearance, arguing that the AGF had not formally taken over the prosecution of the case from Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, who had been handling the matter.
He argued that the defence ought to have been notified if the AGF intended to assume responsibility for the prosecution.
Before the court could rule on the arguments, Fagbemi informed Justice Umar that the defence had reconsidered its position and would no longer insist on the personal appearance of the DSS director-general.
He said another DSS official could appear to address the issues raised by the defence concerning the September 7, 2025 letter.
Following the agreement between both parties, the judge did not deliver a ruling on the subpoena dispute and adjourned the matter until August 3 for a DSS official to appear in connection with the earlier subpoena.
