The Department of State Services has instructed its legal team to seek a lengthy adjournment of the cybercrime case involving African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore until after the 2027 presidential election, according to sources close to the agency’s legal team.
The reported decision followed a meeting involving DSS Director General Oluwatosin Ajayi, private counsel A.T. Kehinde and senior officials of the service’s legal directorate.
The meeting was said to have taken place on August 20 after commencement of the presidential campaign period.
According to the sources, the DSS leadership considered it appropriate to pause proceedings so that Sowore could participate fully in the election without the court case becoming a distraction or impediment.
The proposed adjournment is expected to be presented formally to the Federal High Court when normal sittings resume after the annual judicial vacation.
The case had been scheduled for further proceedings in September.
The DSS is expected to request an adjournment extending into January or February 2027.
Any suspension of proceedings would ultimately require the approval of the court.
Sowore is facing proceedings connected with social media posts published in August 2025 in which he described President Bola Tinubu using language the DSS considered defamatory and unlawful.
The agency said it approached the court to seek judicial clarification on whether an individual could label another person a criminal without a judicial finding to that effect.
Before commencing the case, the DSS reportedly gave Sowore seven days to remove the posts.
He declined, and the agency filed the matter at the Federal High Court in September 2025.
The DSS has framed the litigation as a request for legal interpretation rather than an attempt to prevent political participation.
The new move to seek adjournment appears intended to reinforce that position by avoiding active proceedings during the presidential campaign.
The allegations against Sowore remain before the court and have not been determined.
If the court grants the request, the substantive case would resume only after the election period.
