Omoyele Sowore’s trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja is set to continue after the Department of State Services (DSS) reportedly reversed its earlier decision to seek a long adjournment of the case until after the 2027 general election.
Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), appeared before the court on Monday as proceedings in the case resumed. His lead counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, was also present.
The latest development followed an earlier directive by the DSS for its prosecuting counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, to seek an adjournment that would have kept the case on hold until after the 2027 presidential election.
Sources familiar with the matter told SaharaReporters that the security agency has now changed its position and directed Kehinde to proceed with the prosecution.
The reversal comes only weeks after the DSS had announced its intention to suspend the proceedings.
The agency had previously argued that putting the case on hold would allow Sowore, who is seeking to contest the 2027 presidential election, to take part fully in campaign activities without an ongoing criminal case affecting his participation.
That position was confirmed in August when the DSS directed its counsel to approach the Federal High Court for an adjournment until after the presidential election scheduled for January 16, 2027.
The earlier move followed a meeting involving DSS Director-General, Oluwatosin Ajayi, Kehinde and senior officials in the agency’s legal directorate.
According to reports at the time, the agency considered the suspension necessary because the election campaign period had commenced and Sowore was expected to participate as a presidential candidate.
Kehinde had also confirmed the earlier position, saying the move was consistent with what he described as the “civilized approach” of the DSS leadership.
“We will seek the indulgence of the court for the adjournment,” he said at the time.
However, the latest report indicates that the planned suspension has now been abandoned.
Sources cited by SaharaReporters attributed the reversal to concerns within the agency over Sowore’s continued criticism of President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Government.
The sources alleged that the DSS leadership had hoped the proposed suspension would create room for Sowore to participate in the 2027 election without the pending case hanging over him.
They claimed that the situation changed following Sowore’s continued public attacks against the administration.
The sources described his position as continued “intransigence” and said the development contributed to the decision to resume the prosecution.
These claims have not been independently established beyond the sources cited in the report.
The case against Sowore arose from social media posts he made in August 2025 concerning President Tinubu.
The DSS approached the Federal High Court after Sowore referred to the President as a “criminal” in posts published on his X and Facebook accounts.
The agency has maintained that the court should determine whether such a description amounted to an offence under the Cybercrimes Act.
The prosecution has since gone through several stages before the court.
In May, Justice Mohammed Umar dismissed a no-case submission filed by Sowore and ordered him to enter his defence.
The ruling came after the prosecution completed its case and presented evidence before the court.
The defence proceedings later ran into difficulties.
In August, a disagreement between Sowore’s lawyer and the prosecution counsel disrupted proceedings at the Federal High Court.
Kehinde had accused the defence of employing what he called “dilatory tactics” in the conduct of the case and urged the court to consider bringing the defence stage to an end.
Olumide-Fusika strongly objected to the description and accused the prosecution of being unfair to the defence.
The disagreement became heated enough for Justice Umar to intervene and warn both senior lawyers against further misconduct in his courtroom.
The judge subsequently adjourned the matter for continuation of the defence.
The latest development now puts the case back on the path of active prosecution.
Sowore returned to Nigeria from the United States on Sunday, September 27, ahead of the continuation of his 2027 presidential campaign.
He had spent time in the United States meeting Nigerians in the diaspora, supporters, activists and other stakeholders.
