• Court dismisses el-Rufai’s N120m rights suit against AGF, EFCC, others

Activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has lost his bid to compel the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Tosin Ajayi, to personally appear in court as a witness in his trial on the alleged cyberbullying of President Bola Tinubu.

Ruling yesterday on the subpoena issued to the DSS Director-General at the request of the defence, Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed Sowore’s application on the ground that the subpoena concerned an official act of the DSS. He added that the expected testimony was not personal to the DG.

Still on legal matters, an Abuja Federal High Court has dismissed, for lack of merit and substance, a N120 million fundamental rights suit instituted by a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, against the DSS and three others.

Dismissing the case yesterday, Justice Sylvanus Oriji held that el-Rufai cannot use the court to stop the agencies from performing their duties.

The court also awarded N200, 000 as costs to each of the respondents, including the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the DSS.

Sowore, through his lawyer, Adeyinka Fusika, SAN, had sought a court order compelling the DG’s appearance to testify on official activities of the DSS relating to the cyberbullying case that was instituted against him.

However, the DSS, represented by Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, argued that another official of the agency could testify on his behalf. Among others, he added that it was absurd for Sowore to insist on the DSS DG’s appearance in an official action.

In the other case, the court further held that the letters by the federal agencies inviting el-Rufai to appear for investigation over the allegations against him met constitutional requirements and did not constitute an infringement on his fundamental rights.

On whether the DSS’ attempt to arrest the applicant at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, violated his rights, the court upheld the DSS’ submission that it had statutory mandate to maintain a watchlist and arrest persons of interest.