The trial of the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, along with his co-defendant Olawale Bakare (also known as Mandate), has been halted by the Federal Government.
The Federal Government’s choice to halt the trial was conveyed to the Federal High Court in Abuja through a notice of discontinuation, dated February 14 but submitted the following day by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbem
The notice reads: “By virtue of the power conferred on me under Section 174 (1) (c} of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, Section 107 (1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and all other powers enabling me in that behalf, I Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, SAN intend to discontinue charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/235/2019″.
In 2019, Sowore and Bakare were brought before the Federal High Court in Abuja following a protest rally organized by Sowore titled ‘Revolution Now.’
Earlier, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had warned of dismissing the treason charge against Sowore if the Nigerian government wasn’t prepared to proceed with the case after five years. This warning was issued during the court session on Wednesday.
However, the trial scheduled for that day couldn’t proceed as planned. The primary reason was the inability of the first defendant to enter a plea due to the announcement of a new prosecution lawyer, who stated that she would be taking over the case since the initial lawyer had been transferred out of the Ministry of Justice. Consequently, she requested an adjournment to familiarize herself with the case.
The defense counsel, Marshal Abubakar, opposed this adjournment, alleging that the prosecution was merely attempting to delay proceedings and waste the court’s tim