Justice Mohammed Garuba Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected the bid by presidential candidate of the of the African Alliance Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore, to tender uncertified documents in his trial for allegedly making defamatory statements against President Bola Tinubu.
The judge on Wednesday refused the bid when Sowore’s lead counsel, Olumide Fusika, SAN, applied to tender some uncertified documents through another lawyer, Barrister Wayne Chikezie Elijah.
The documents are summary of proceedings in testimony of a witness codenamed XYZ, along with other vital letters.
Midway into the Wednesday’s proceedings Fusika had called Elijah as his third witness in the defense of the activist for the purpose of tendering the vital documents.
Trouble had started when the registrar of the court announced that those to testify in the matter for the defense should leave the courtroom and go out of hearing, an announcement the lawyer failed to honour.
When he was called into the witness box as second witness for the day, DSS lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, asked him to confirm his presence in court when the first witness of the day, Uwen Davis, was testifying.
Sensing the implications of his being in the courtroom, against the registrar’s directive, the legal practitioner informed Justice Mohammed Garuba Umar that he was inside and outside the courtroom when the first witness was giving evidence.
The DSS counsel proceeded to object to the tendering of the documents on the ground that they were public documents and ought to be certified before they can be admitted as exhibits.
Kehinde urged the judge to reject admitting the documents and mark them as rejected on the ground that the bid offended the Evidence Act.
Sowore’s counsel, Fusika, however countered the DSS lawyer, arguing that the documents came from court records and need not be certified.
Ruling on application, Justice Umar held that the documents are coming from the custody of a counsel who claimed to be a counsel in the matter before.
He said, “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?”
Justice Umar subsequently rejected the documents and marked them as rejected.
“The document is rejected and marked as such,” the judge ruled.
Earlier, Uwen Davis, a Principal Officer, General Services in the DSS, had testified that he authored a letter dated September 7, 2025 and delivered to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of X Corporation, asking him to delete the post where Sowore allegedly called President Bola Tinubu a criminal.
He admitted that the letter stated that Tinubu’s supporters are becoming furious and that the offending post could lead to breakdown of law and order.
Answering a question, the witness said he cannot name Tinubu’s supporters that were becoming furious, adding that he authored the letter based on a directive to do so by his superior officer.
Meanwhile, the continuation of the defense has been adjourned to July 28.
It will be recalled that Justice Umar had, during proceedings on July 16, 2026, issued a final warning to Sowore to resume his defence in the trial.
The judge issued the warning following the absence of Sowore’s lead counsel during the proceedings.
Tinubu defamation trial: Court rejects Sowore’s bid to tender uncertified documents
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