Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday declined to grant an application by publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, for an adjournment in his on going trial for cyberbullying till after the court’s forthcoming vacation.
The judge Umar, in a ruling, rejected the request made by Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar.
He also ordered the defendant, who is arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) to enter his defence beginning from June 5.
The judge ordered that further hearing in the case shall henceforth, be conducted day-to-day, from the next adjourned date.
Sowore is standing trial for allegedly making false claims against President Bola Tinubu by referring to him as “a criminal” in a post he made on his “X” and Facebook accounts.
At the resumed hearing in the matter, the DSS lawyer, Akinlolu Kehindem (SAN), said the case was fixed for June 4 to get the Chief Judge’s response to a May 19 letter from Sowore, requesting that the case be assigned to another judge.
Kehinde said he was served on May 26 with a copy of the chief judge’s response, dated May 22, in which the defendant’s request was declined and the court was ordered to continue to hear the case.
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He then, applied that the judge order the defendant to enter his defence.
Responding, Abubakar claimed that a portion of the chief judge’s response directed the defendant to file a formal application so that it could be heard in open court.
Abubakar urged the court to adjourn the case till after the court’s forthcoming vacation to enable Sowore, an African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, to participate in next year’s presidential election.
Replying, Kehinde faulted Abubakar’s interpretation of the chief judge’s response.
He stressed that the case before the court had nothing to do with political activities in the country.
Following a disagreement between both lawyers on the content of the chief judge’s response, Justice Umar called for a copy of the letter and read through, following which he declared Abubakar wrong.
He said: “From the content of the letter, there is nowhere the defendant is asked to file an application before this court.
“This court is not denying the defendant the right to file any application. This can be done anytime before judgment.”
The judge said the current stage of the case merely required the defendant to enter his defence.
Thereafter, the judge ordered Sowore to enter his defence.
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