Court declines admission of Sowere’s exhibits in Tinubu defamation case

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has refused to admit documents presented by Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, in his ongoing trial over alleged defamatory statements against President Bola Tinubu.

Delivering his ruling on Wednesday, Justice Mohammed Umar dismissed an oral request by Marshall Abubakar, Sowore’s counsel, who had asked the court to allow the tendering of printed online publications as exhibits.

Sowore is standing trial following charges brought against him by the Department of State Services (DSS) over a social media post on his X and Facebook accounts, in which he allegedly described President Tinubu as “a criminal.”

The documents sought to be tendered included reports on the dismissal of 115 DSS personnel for misconduct, corruption cases involving five former governors, the removal of 27 EFCC officials over fraud and misconduct, and the arrest of former Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) staff over an alleged N7.2 billion fraud.

Justice Umar aligned with the argument of Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, the prosecution counsel, that the appropriate time for the defendant to present such documents would be during the defence stage of the trial.

The court noted that the first prosecution witness (PW-1), under cross-examination, had stated that he was unaware of the publications contained in the documents. On that basis, the judge ruled that the exhibits could not be tendered through him.

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“A document cannot be admitted through a witness who has no knowledge of it,” Justice Umar ruled, formally marking the exhibits as rejected.

The court similarly turned down another batch of documents which the defence claimed showed that President Tinubu had previously referred to former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo in derogatory terms. Justice Umar rejected the documents for the same procedural reason.

During proceedings, the judge also expressed concern over allegations by the prosecution that parts of the trial had been live-streamed. While Abubakar denied that any member of the defence team was responsible and suggested other possible sources, the judge warned that such an act could amount to contempt of court.

Although the prosecution requested an investigation to identify those responsible, the defence urged the court to merely caution against a recurrence. Justice Umar noted that the matter was serious and capable of investigation but did not issue any directive before adjourning the case.

Meanwhile, during cross-examination, the second prosecution witness (PW-2), DSS official Cyril Nosike, testified that President Tinubu’s verified X handle at the time of the alleged post was @officialABAT, dismissing claims that it was @PBAT.

Nosike maintained that he was in court to present facts, not opinions, and declined to comment on corruption levels in Nigeria or global corruption rankings, including the Transparency International index. He also rejected claims linking the DSS dismissals to corruption, stating they followed internal investigations.

The witness further denied knowledge of various allegations raised by the defence, including past corruption cases, social media posts by political figures, and claims linking President Tinubu to the murder of Funso Williams.

Following extended cross-examination that spanned two days, Justice Umar questioned the defence’s repeated requests for additional time. However, in the interest of fairness, the judge granted a final adjournment.

The case was subsequently adjourned until March 5 for the continuation of cross-examination of the first prosecution witness.