The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation had charged Sowore and Olawale Bakare with two counts of treasonable felony after accusing them of organising a protest tagged #RevolutionNow allegedly aimed at toppling then-President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
The trial of #RevolutionNow convener, Omoyele Sowore, was discontinued by the Nigerian government after it was defeated in court by the activist, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana has said.
The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation had charged Sowore and Olawale Bakare with two counts of treasonable felony after accusing them of organising a protest tagged #RevolutionNow allegedly aimed at toppling then-President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
On February 15, SaharaReporters reported that the government had discontinued its case against the former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) over alleged treason.
A Notice of Discontinuance stamped by the Federal High Court in Abuja and signed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), said the complainant (Federal Government of Nigeria) would discontinue the case.
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.”
The discontinuance came after Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, threatened to strike out the charge filed against Sowore if the Nigerian government was not ready to go on with the case five years later.
In February, one of Sowore’s lawyers, Marshal Abubakar had objected to another request for an adjournment by a new prosecution lawyer, A.Y Tahir, who said she would be taking over the case on the ground that the lawyer handling the case initially had been transferred out of the Ministry of Justice. She claimed she needed time to study the case.
Marshal accused the prosecution of playing to the gallery to waste the time of the court.
He argued that the prosecution had applied for five adjournments since the case had started de novo. He urged the court to strike out the case because the Nigerian government was not ready for the case but was only bent on keeping his client in the country in perpetuity.
He said his client, who is the 1st defendant in the case, had been confined within the country for five years and had not been able to visit his family in the United States.
It will be recalled that in August 2019, Sowore was detained for 45 days on the orders of the Federal High Court to enable the Department of State Services (DSS) or State Security Service (SSS) to probe the allegation of terrorism levelled against him.
The frivolous allegation was based on an interview of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, that was published by Sahara Reporters.
According to Falana, upon the conclusion of the investigation, the DSS found no evidence of terrorism. So the charge was dropped.
He said, “With respect to the charge of cyberstalking, the defence applied for President Muhammadu Buhari's statement wherein he alleged that Sowore had put him in a state of fear or anxiety in accordance with the provisions of the Cybercrime Act 2015.
“As General Buhari (retd.) could not have admitted that Sowore had put him in a state of fear or anxiety, the charge of cyberstalking was also dropped.
“The charge of money laundering was equally dropped when the DSS confirmed that the alleged "proceed of crime" was money legitimately earned by Sowore and transferred to the account of Sahara Reporters.
“The remaining charge of treasonable felony (based on a planned protest by Sowore and his comrades) was turned into the trial of President Buhari by the defence.”
Rasheed Olawale, the first witness called by the prosecution disclosed that Sowore was in the custody of the DSS when the revolution protest of August 5, 2019, took place in some parts of the country.
The witness also admitted during his cross-examination that General Buhari (retd.) was not tried for leading the coup d'etat that terminated the Second Republic in 1981 and for calling for a revolution in Nigeria after Egypt’s bloody revolution in 2011.
Olawale also admitted in court that no act of violence or revolution was linked to Sowore, who was arrested for allegedly planning to topple Buhari’s regime in August 2019.
Olawale, a Principal Staff Officer with the DSS, had said the secret police received an intelligence report that Sowore and his associates were planning to carry out a revolution and revolt against Buhari’s government throughout the country.
However, when being cross-examined by Sowore’s counsel, Mr Falana (SAN), the witness said “no person engaged in violence,” when asked if anyone engaged in violence during the August 5, 2019 #RevolutionNow protest.
The witness also admitted to the court that Sowore was in DSS custody in Abuja and therefore did not participate in the protest.
And when Falana also asked the witness if there was any revolution anywhere in the country on August 5, 2019, the witness said, “No, not to my knowledge”.
Olawale, who said he was 42 years old at the time, told the court that he knew when Buhari overthrew then-President Shehu Shagari’s administration in a military coup on December 31, 1983.
While responding to further questions under cross-examination, the witness said he could not recall if Buhari was charged with treason or treasonable felony for ousting the democratically elected government of Shagari.
Falana added, “At that stage, the prosecution applied for a secret trial but the application was vigorously opposed by the defence. The trial judge, Ifeoma Ojukwu J. rejected the application of the prosecution for a secret trial on the ground that it was not backed by evidence.
“To prevent the defence from using the trial to further embarrass President Buhari, the prosecution decided not to call any of the other listed witnesses.
“Based on several adjournments at the instance of the prosecution, the defence applied that the case be dismissed for want of diligent prosecution.
“It was at that stage that the Attorney General of Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) filed an application for nolle prosequi, which culminated in the dismissal of the charge of treasonable felony against Sowore.”