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By Ayo Kehinde
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday granted African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, more time to perfect the conditions attached to his $200 million bail after the Department of State Services (DSS) urged the court to remand him in custody for alleged failure to comply with the order.
Justice Mohammed Umar refused to grant the oral request for Sowore’s immediate remand, saying he would wait until close of business on Monday to ascertain the extent of compliance with bail conditions before making any decision.
The ruling followed a submission by DSS lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, who argued that the accused was yet to meet the conditions imposed by the court when bail was granted on June 30.
At the start of the proceedings, Sowore had opened his defense by calling lawyer and activist Deji Adeyanju as his first defense witness (DW-1).
Adduced in evidence by defense counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, Adeyanju tendered a USB stick containing video recordings along with a compliance certificate as documentary evidence to support Sowore’s case.
After the admission of the exhibits, Olumide-Fusika requested an adjournment to allow the court to play and examine the video recordings at the next hearing.
The request was not opposed and Judge Umar adjourned the trial to July 13 for the defense to continue.
However, soon after the postponement was granted, the DSS lawyer reminded the court that the order to admit Sowore to bail remained subject to strict compliance with his conditions.
Kehinde told the court that although Sowore had been released by a lawyer at the last hearing pending payment of his bail, he had not fulfilled any of the conditions.
According to him, the AAC presidential candidate was yet to deposit his international passport with the deputy chief registrar of the court, present a traditional ruler of his community as one of his guarantors, or provide a second guarantor who owns land properties within the federal capital territory, as directed by the court.
He further argued that the defense had not informed either the prosecution or the court whether the travel document had been produced.
“We urge Your Lordship to issue the necessary order for the defendant to be remanded in custody until the bail conditions are fulfilled,” Kehinde said, insisting that court orders must be respected and should not be treated as mere formalities.
Olumide-Fusika, responding, called on the court to exercise patience, maintaining that the process of finalizing the bail conditions was ongoing.
He argued that compliance with the bail terms entails verification by the court after the necessary documents and collateral have been submitted, adding that the verification process has not been concluded.
“It is not correct to say that the conditions have not been fulfilled. Once the requirements are fulfilled, the court still has to verify them and the trial is ongoing,” the senior lawyer said.
After hearing both sides, Justice Umar said that although the release order had been signed the previous day, he would await developments before the end of proceedings to determine whether the accused had taken sufficient steps to comply with the bail conditions before deciding on the prosecution’s remand application.
Justice Umar had on June 30 admitted Sowore bail in the amount of $200 million with two sureties in a similar sum.
The court ordered that one guarantor must be a traditional ruler of Sowore community, while the second must be a landowner in Abuja.
Sowore was also ordered to surrender his international passport to the court’s chief deputy registrar, among other conditions.
The bail order came after the court revoked Sowore’s earlier bail for his failure to appear at the June 16 trial.
The DSS is prosecuting Sowore for allegedly making false and defamatory statements against President Bola Tinubu, who it allegedly described as “a criminal” in posts published on his X and Facebook accounts.
The matter was adjourned to July 13, when the court is expected to continue hearing the defense and determine whether the defendant has fully complied with his bail conditions.
