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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja , yesterday rejected an attempt by lawyers to Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), to tender uncertified documents in his ongoing trial over allegations that he defamed President Bola Tinubu.
The move came when Sowore’s lead counsel, Olumide Fusika (SAN), sought to tender the documents through another defence lawyer, Wayne Elijah.
The documents included a summary of proceedings containing the testimony of a witness codenamed XYZ, alongside several letters.
Fusika called Elijah as the defence’s third witness of the day specifically to tender the documents.
However, complications arose after the court registrar directed all intending witnesses to remain outside the courtroom until called to testify, an instruction Elijah failed to obey.
When Elijah later took the witness stand, counsel to the Department of State Services (DSS), Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), asked whether he had remained in court while the first defence witness, Uwen Davis, testified.
Elijah admitted that he had been moving in and out of the courtroom during Davis’s testimony.
The DSS objected to the admissibility of the documents, arguing that they were public documents requiring certification before they could be tendered as exhibits, in line with the Evidence Act.
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Kehinde urged the court to reject the documents outright.
Fusika, however, argued that the documents emanated from court records and therefore did not require certification.
In his ruling, Justice Umar held that the documents had been in the custody of a lawyer who claimed to have previously represented a party in the matter, raising concerns over their authenticity.
“The reason for certification is to be sure the document has not been tampered with. Having been in the custody of the said counsel, how is the court sure that the document has not been tampered with?” the judge said before rejecting the documents.
Earlier, Uwen Davis, a Principal Officer in the DSS General Services Department, told the court that he authored a letter dated September 7, 2025, addressed to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of X Corporation, requesting the removal of a post in which Sowore allegedly referred to President Tinubu as a criminal.
He said the letter warned that Tinubu’s supporters were becoming agitated and that the post could trigger a breakdown of law and order.
Under cross-examination, however, Davis admitted he could not identify any of the supporters he claimed were angered by the post, explaining that he wrote the letter on the instruction of a superior officer.
Justice Umar adjourned the matter until July 28 for the continuation of the defence.
The judge had earlier, at the July 16 proceedings, issued Sowore a final warning to proceed with his defence or risk having it foreclosed.
