The Department of State Services (DSS) has directed its counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, to take steps to suspend the cybercrime case instituted against human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, until after the 2027 presidential election.
The development followed a meeting between the Director-General of the DSS, Mr. Oluwatosin Ajayi, and Mr. Kehinde, alongside senior officials of DSS’ Legal Directorate, on August 20, 2026.
A source close to the DSS legal team said the meeting was convened to consider putting the case on hold, in view of the commencement of campaigns for the 2027 presidential election, scheduled for January 16, 2027.
According to the source, Ajayi directed the legal team to explore ways of suspending the proceedings to enable Sowore to participate fully in the electoral process without the case constituting a distraction or hindrance.
“The DSS boss told the Senior Advocate and his directorate of legal Services that, with the commencement of presidential campaigns, it would only be fair to pause the court case in order to enable Sowore fully participate in the upcoming elections without let or hindrance,” the source said.
It was gathered the DSS leadership was of the view that suspending the proceedings for a few months would not prejudice the case, which has already been before the court for almost a year.
“The DSS boss told the lawyers that, since the matter had been in court for nearly a year, suspending it for another four months wouldn’t make much difference,” the source said.
The case against Sowere was adjourned to September 20, 2026. However, the proposed suspension of the case is expected to be formally communicated to the Federal High Court from September 14, 2026, when the court is scheduled to resume normal sittings following its annual judicial vacation.
It was gathered that the DSS lawyers would ask the court for a long adjournment from next month till January or February 2027, during which time the presidential electioneering and election would have been concluded.
The DSS had approached the Federal High Court over social media posts made by Sowore on August 25, 2025, in which he reportedly referred to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “criminal” on his X handle and Facebook page.
The post said: “This criminal @officialABAT actually went to Brazil to state that there is no more corruption under his regime in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly.”
The DSS is seeking judicial determination of whether it is lawful for an individual to arbitrarily describe the president, or any other person, as a criminal without a judicial pronouncement to that effect.
The intelligence agency had argued that the case is intended to obtain judicial interpretation of the issue, in a manner similar to its earlier request for the court’s determination on the legality of Professor Pat Utomi’s proposed “Shadow Government.”
Before going to court, the DSS gave Sowore seven days to remove the post. When the activist declined to comply with the directive after the expiration of the ultimatum, the agency instituted the case at the Federal High Court on September 16, 2025.
In a September 6, 2025 letter to the chairman of Meta Corporation, the DSS reportedly stated that its statutory responsibility to protect the president extended beyond physical threats to what it described as psychological attacks.