A Federal High Court in Abuja will rule on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, on whether the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi, can be compelled to appear in person as a defence witness in the cybercrime trial of Omoyele Sowore.
Justice Mohammed Umar reserved the ruling on Friday after hearing arguments from both sides on a subpoena issued in Ajayi’s name. The prosecution asked the court to reject the demand for a personal appearance and to allow another DSS officer to testify. The defence maintained that the subpoena still names Ajayi and that he must attend.
Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), is being prosecuted by the DSS over posts he published in August 2025 on X, formerly Twitter, and on Facebook. The prosecution alleges that he described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal” and accused him of misrepresenting the level of corruption in the country. Sowore has pleaded not guilty. Reports of the proceedings have described the charge as cybercrime or cyberbullying.
At Friday’s sitting, prosecuting counsel Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, told the court that insisting on Ajayi’s personal attendance was wrong. He relied on the Supreme Court decision in Ishaq v. Soniyi (2002) ALL FWLR (Pt. 498) 347 at 373, which he said held that where a subpoena is directed to a named public officer, it would be absurd to require only that officer to appear in compliance with it.
Kehinde argued that Ajayi was summoned in his official capacity, had no personal interest in the case, and acted only as head of the Service. He said it would be impracticable for the Director-General to attend every DSS matter before different divisions of the Federal High Court. He told the court that a designated DSS official was present and ready to give evidence, and he asked the judge to allow that officer to testify.
The dispute sits on an earlier arrangement. Reports of the case say Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, appeared in the matter and that the parties reached an understanding that another DSS officer could stand in for Ajayi. On September 28, however, no DSS representative appeared. Kehinde told the court that day that it was not his duty to produce a witness for the defence. Justice Umar gave the defence another opportunity and adjourned to October 2.
Defence counsel Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, told the court on Friday that the prosecution had repudiated that understanding. According to an account of the proceedings published by Sahara Reporters, he said the arrangement “was an understanding between gentlemen, ordinarily binding,” and that it “was repudiated by the person charged with the prosecution of this case at the last adjourned date.” He argued that Ajayi was named specifically on the subpoena and on the hearing notice, and that he must now attend. He also said that if the prosecution objected to the Director-General’s appearance, it should file a formal application rather than simply produce another officer.
Olumide-Fusika linked the subpoena to the evidence of the second defence witness, a DSS official. News Agency of Nigeria reports carried by several outlets name that witness as Uwem Davies and say he indicated, while testifying, that some questions could only be answered by the Director-General. Sahara Reporters referred to the same witness as Owen Davies. The two spellings have not been reconciled in the available reports.
After looking at the record, Justice Umar observed that it was recorded that an officer would testify on behalf of the Director-General and that Olumide-Fusika had agreed to that arrangement. The defence counsel did not dispute the record, but said the prosecution’s failure to produce the officer at the previous sitting led the defence to serve Ajayi with a hearing notice. He described the appearance of a representative in place of the person named on the subpoena as unacceptable.
The judge then adjourned until October 6 for a ruling on whether Ajayi must appear personally and testify about actions taken by the Service.
After the sitting, Sowore told Sahara Reporters that Ajayi was a defence witness and that the defence would take legal steps to secure his attendance. He said, according to that report, that the understanding reached with the Attorney-General had been repudiated, and he claimed the Director-General could be brought to court in handcuffs if he failed to honour the subpoena. Those remarks are Sowore’s own claims, not findings of the court.
The prosecution has previously been reported to have closed its case on March 16, 2026. The October 6 ruling will determine whether the defence proceeds with Ajayi in person or with the DSS officer the prosecution says is already available.
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