The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has replied Sowore’s lawyer’s letter demanding to release his client Omoyele Sowore from Department of State Service (DSS) custody.
A terse statement Monday night by his Special Assistant on Media, Umar Gwandu, said such will amount to a unilateral decision as the case of the #RevolutionNow protests convener and his co-defendant, Olawale Bakare, was still in court.
Sowore’s lawyer Falana in his letter, had explained that his call for Sowore’s release became necessary after two lawyers from his team, who visited the Department of State Services, DSS, to effect the activist’s freedom were told to take their request to the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Abubakar Malami.
His call followed Malami’s order to the DSS to hands-off the trial of the activist and hand over the case to his office.
But Malami said the action doesn’t mean he could free Sowore at will.
Malami said: “When parties submit their issues for determination to a court of law, they lack exclusivity of decision over such issues without recourse to the court.”
“We remain guided by the established tradition and will not take unilateral decision without recourse to the rule of law,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sowore has remained in detention following his re-arrest by operatives of DSS at the Federal High Court in Abuja on December 6, 2019.
