The Federal Government has stopped the trial of the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare (also known as Mandate).
The decision to end the trial was notified to the Federal High Court in Abuja via a notice of discontinuance dated February 14, but filed the next day by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
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″.
Sowore and Bakare were arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja in 2019, following a “Revolution Now” protest event.
Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja had threatened to dismiss the treason allegation filed against him if the Nigerian government did not agree to proceed with the case five years later.
The judge issued the warning on Wednesday during the case’s resumed hearing.
The case, which was scheduled for trial, was stopped because the first defendant was unable to enter a plea following the announcement of the new prosecution lawyer, who stated that she would be taking over the case because the lawyer handling it initially had been transferred from the Ministry of Justice.
She then requested an adjournment so she could study and keep up with the case.
Marshal Abubakar, the defence attorney, objected to the application, claiming that the prosecution was playing to the gallery to waste the court’s time.
