Dare Babalola
Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, on Wednesday alleged that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was using the Department of State Services (DSS) to persecute him over his criticism of the current administration.
In a post on X, Sowore claimed that the Director-General of the DSS, Tosin Ajayi, was being used to target him for “speaking uncomfortable truths” about the government.
The activist spoke after proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja involving a case against him before Justice Mohammed Garba Umar.
According to Sowore, he and his legal team had earlier received information that the judge was returning from an official engagement to deliver a ruling on their request seeking his recusal from the matter.
However, Sowore said his team instead submitted a letter to the Chief Judge requesting that the case be reassigned to another judge, alleging bias and disrespect from Justice Umar toward his lawyers.
“To be clear, we did not file an application requesting that Justice Umar recuse himself. We asked the Chief Judge to reassign the case because Justice Umar had repeatedly displayed inherent bias and open disrespect toward our legal team,” Sowore wrote.
He further alleged that the judge once ordered his lead counsel, Marshal D. F. Abubakar, to kneel before him in court, an action he described as unacceptable and contrary to judicial standards.
“At one point, he even asked our lead counsel, Marshal D. F. Abubakar, to kneel before him in court, an outrageous act that has no place in the history of jurisprudence in Nigeria,” he added.
Sowore also disclosed that his legal team may soon petition the National Judicial Council (NJC) over the matter, insisting that Justice Umar should be investigated and suspended.
