‘They Thought I Would Stop Criticising Tinubu’ – Sowore Reveals Why DSS Resumed Trial

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has claimed that the Department of State Services (DSS) reversed its earlier position to suspend the trial against him because they thought he would stop criticising President Bola Tinubu

Naija News reports that the DSS had reversed its earlier decision to seek an adjournment of the ongoing trial of Sowore until after the 2027 general election.

Sources familiar with the development told SaharaReporters that the secret police has now directed its prosecuting counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), to continue with the case.

Reacting to the development in an interview with Arise News on Monday, Sowore stated there was no basis for the prosecution and called for the case to be dismissed.

He claimed the DSS thought he would be grateful to them and stop criticizing Tinubu, but when they realized he would not, they decided to continue with the case.

Sowore said, “They thought that by saying in last August that they were no longer going to continue with my trial, I would be grateful to them and stop criticising the President, according to them. That was their calculation. I also think that it was a period of tension considering how things were going on within the courtroom and beyond the courtroom. But now they’ve realized that that is not going to happen, that I do not deal on those levels, and decided to take us to court.

“We made it very clear that there was no case in the first place, and instead of asking for an illegal postponement.”

Sowore said he rejected the proposed suspension because he believed the DSS was seeking to create the impression that it respected his human rights and his right to participate in the democratic process.

“They were doing a number of things psychologically. They want to give Nigerian people the impression that they have respect for human rights and that they respect my right to participate in the democratic process. They were expecting applause; it didn’t come. When that didn’t come, they got very rattled.

“I think this, for them, is a face-saving measure so that they don’t appear to look weak, and they’re confused because it was obvious that they were not expecting our reaction when they made that initial agreement,” he added.