Sowore Case Takes Dramatic Turn as AAC Rejects DSS ‘Suspension’ — Makes Seven Fresh Demands

The African Action Congress (AAC) has rejected the reported decision by the Department of State Services (DSS) to suspend the prosecution of its presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, until after the 2027 presidential election.

Instead, the party is demanding the immediate and complete discontinuation of the case, insisting that merely putting the prosecution on hold does not resolve what it describes as a politically motivated case.

The development followed reports that the DSS had directed its private counsel, Akinolu Kehinde, SAN, to take steps to suspend the alleged cyberbullying case against Sowore until after the 2027 presidential election.

According to a source close to the DSS counsel, the decision followed a meeting involving the DSS Director-General, Tosin Ajayi, the senior lawyer and top officials of the agency’s legal directorate on August 20.

However, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Rex Elanu, on Sunday, the AAC said it was not impressed by the reported suspension.

The party argued that Nigerian criminal procedure does not provide for a criminal trial to be indefinitely suspended and left hanging over an accused person.

“We do not consider the purported suspension of this needless case to be good news,” the AAC stated.

According to the party, the appropriate step would be for the prosecution to discontinue the case completely rather than keep it in abeyance until after the election.

The AAC further alleged that the prosecution had become an “embarrassing political burden” for the DSS and the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

AAC Accuses DSS Of Political Persecution

The opposition party accused the DSS of using state resources to prosecute Sowore over his criticism of the President, describing the action as an abuse of state power and political persecution.

“For nearly a year, state resources have been deployed in a case arising essentially from Sowore’s description of Bola Tinubu as a ‘criminal,’” the party said.

It argued that instead of allowing political criticism and freedom of expression, the DSS allegedly deployed state machinery against a presidential candidate.

The party maintained that Sowore should not have been subjected to the prosecution in the first place.

It also rejected the reported justification that the case was being suspended to enable Sowore to participate fully in the 2027 presidential election.

Seven Demands Put Forward

The AAC subsequently outlined a series of demands, insisting that the reported suspension must not be used as a political tool against its candidate.

Among its demands, the party called for:

• Immediate and complete discontinuation of the prosecution by the Attorney-General of the Federation.
• A formal apology and appropriate compensation to Sowore for legal expenses, time and disruption allegedly caused by the case.
• Immediate return of Sowore’s international passport, which is reportedly in the custody of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
• Return of Sowore’s phones, electronic devices and other personal property allegedly retained by the DSS.
• Return of the drone and other devices reportedly seized from Sowore’s media assistant, Zainab Sodiq.
• An immediate end to alleged harassment and intimidation of Sodiq, journalists, activists and other Nigerians exercising their constitutional rights.
• An end to the alleged weaponisation of state institutions against political opponents, activists, journalists and citizens.

The party said the return of Sowore’s passport was particularly important as political activities ahead of the 2027 election intensify.

It argued that the presidential candidate should be free to travel, campaign and engage with Nigerians at home and abroad.

‘Nigeria Is Not Anybody’s Personal Estate’

The AAC also warned the DSS and the Tinubu administration against portraying the reported suspension as an act of goodwill.

“It is not magnanimity to stop doing something that should never have been done in the first place,” the party declared.

The party insisted that security agencies and institutions of justice must not be turned into instruments for settling political scores or suppressing dissent.

It further said the principle should apply to every Nigerian, regardless of political affiliation, citing former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and others who have alleged that state institutions are being used against them.

The AAC maintained that the reported suspension of Sowore’s case must ultimately lead to justice, accountability and complete discontinuation of the prosecution, rather than another political manoeuvre.

Sowore, a presidential candidate and publisher of Sahara Reporters, has had several confrontations with Nigerian security agencies, including his arrest and prosecution following the #RevolutionNow protest in 2019.

The latest case stems from comments attributed to him concerning President Tinubu, with the AAC continuing to insist that the prosecution is politically motivated.