The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has rejected the Department of State Services’ move to suspend his cyberbullying trial until after the 2027 general elections.
Sowore instead demanded that the DSS withdraw the charges against him, terminate the trial and publicly apologise for what he described as an unjust prosecution.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, the AAC candidate said the DSS’s request to pause the proceedings showed that the agency had realised the case was unlikely to succeed.
Sowore argued that the security agency had no legal authority to unilaterally suspend a trial it had initiated, accusing security agencies of attempting to exert undue influence over the judiciary.
“We are not seeking an adjournment. We want you to apologise for doing this to us, and ensure that you compensate people who are wrongfully tried for committing no crime at all,” he said.
“You have no right to suspend the trial you have already started. You should go and withdraw your charges. That is the only way out, and the only provision left in our law books.”
Sowore further alleged that the case amounted to an abuse of state power aimed at criminalising free speech.
He also claimed that a foreign tracking device had recently been discovered on his vehicle, alleging that it was planted by the DSS to monitor his movements.
The AAC candidate also criticised the Federal Government’s removal of the fuel subsidy, arguing that the policy had worsened economic hardship, hunger and inflation among Nigerians.
According to him, the fundamental problem with the subsidy regime was corruption rather than the subsidy itself.
