Online publisher and African Action Congress presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, on Friday told the Federal High Court in Abuja that his lawyers had deserted him in the defamation case filed against him by the Department of State Services.
Sowore blamed the development on the court’s June 4 ruling, which directed him to open his defence or risk having it foreclosed.
At Friday’s proceedings, Sowore, who is also a lawyer, made an oral application before Justice Mohammed Garba Umar, asking the judge to recuse himself from the case.
He alleged that Justice Umar had shown bias against him and said he was no longer confident of getting justice in the trial.
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Counsel to the DSS, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), did not oppose Sowore’s application for recusal, but objected to any prolonged adjournment for the ruling.
Justice Umar initially fixed Monday, June 8, for ruling on the recusal application. However, following Sowore’s plea, the court shifted the date to June 15, when the ruling will be delivered and Sowore is also expected to open his defence.
In an earlier ruling delivered on Thursday, Justice Umar rejected an application by Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, seeking adjournment of further proceedings until after the court’s annual vacation in July.
The judge also ordered that hearing in the matter should continue on a day-to-day basis, beginning from June 5, with the defendant required to open his defence.
Sowore is being prosecuted by the DSS over allegations that he made false claims against President Bola Tinubu, including referring to him as “a criminal” in posts published on his X and Facebook accounts.
Crediblenewsng.com
