Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the African Action Congress (AAC) has asked the Federal Government to withdraw all charges against its presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore.
Recall that Sowore had been undergoing trial at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on charges bordering on terrorism, cybercrime and harassing the president, with the case postponed several times.
Two judges had already withdrawn from the case while the third had threatened to strike out the case due to alleged delay tactics, unseriousness and lacklustre attitude by the prosecution since the case started in 2019.
In a statement signed at the weekend by its National Publicity Secretary, Femi Adeyeye, AAC said it was not surprised that the administration of President Bola Tinubu, like its predecessor, had been jittery and confused about what to do with Sowore’s case.
The party, however, urged the government not to manipulate the judiciary by keeping the case ongoing in perpetuity.
“We want to assure the Tinubu regime that we are not oblivious of these gimmicks, one of which is to demobilise Nigerians who are ready to show solidarity at the Federal High Court premises when the case will be heard.
“We won’t be deterred as our resolve to seek justice in this particular matter is renewed daily, by the everyday need to resist the attacks launched against the Nigerian people who earnestly seek a revolution.
“It would interest the public to know that since the matter was announced in court, only one witness has been called to the witness box; a DSS officer who stuttered for most time he stood in the box.
“Similar matter that arose from the arrest of Mr Omoyele Sowore has been settled in Lagos and #RevolutionNow has been declared legal and the right to protest has been restated as a constitutional right by the court.
“Why then do we continue to delay justice and deny the accused his liberty?
“The court cannot continue to hold on to an innocent man in everlasting imprisonment, because the prosecutors are failing day by day to prove their case. It has been four years since their first failure.
“It is to this end we demand that the hearing of the matter continues as scheduled and all charges against Mr Omoyele Sowore be dropped immediately.
“We call on all Nigerians; lovers of justice across the world, not to be deterred but to join the march against oppression and to demand that all trumped-up charges against Mr Omoyele Sowore be dropped with immediate effect,” Adeyeye said.
