The trial of political activist and online publisher, Omoyele Sowore, took a dramatic twist yesterday, when Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, threatened to commit his lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, for contempt for being rude in court.
Abubakar drew the ire of the court when he raised his voice while making submissions in court.
He further raised his voice and insisted that the date chosen by the court for the defence to open its case was not convenient for him.
It took the intervention of other lawyers in court to calm the nerves of the judge who had ordered Abubakar to “come out and kneel down” in open court.
Sowore is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) for allegedly making false claims against the person of President Bola Tinubu by referring to him as “a criminal” in a post he made on his “X” and Facebook accounts.
Trouble started when, shortly after Abubakar struggled to conclude cross examining the sole prosecution witness, the prosecuting counsel announced the closure of the prosecution’s case and applied that the defence be called upon to open its case.
When asked by the judge when he planned to open his counsel s defence, Abubakar said the defendant would make a no-case submission and suggested that the court should adjourn till a date in July.
Prosecuting counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), objected and argued that it was part of the defence’s dilatory tactics intended to further delay proceedings. He suggested that the case be heard on a daily basis.
In his intervention, the judge noted that, while the prosecution was swift in conducting its case, the defence was tardy, spent a whole four days in cross examining the prosecution’s only witness.
The judge said it was not feasible to hear the case on a daily basis, but directed parties to return on April 13 for the adoption of their final written addresses in respect of the no-case submission. Abubakar seemed uncomfortable with that date.
While Sowore was addressing the judge from the dock on how the proposed date might affect his party’s upcoming primaries, his lawyer also simultaneously began speaking, narrating how his client plans to defeat President Tinubu in the next presidential election.
“This court belongs to all of us. This court is not for some people alone. It belongs to all of us,” Abubakar said while raising his voice .
Attempts by the judge to make the lawyer lower his voice were unsuccessful. At that point, Justice Umar said: “If you shout in this court again, I will commit you for contempt. In fact, come here! Come and kneel down here!” pointing to a spot in front of the courtroom.
On realising the dire consequences of the action, other lawyers, including Kehinde, jumped to their feet and began begging the judge to forgive the aberrant lawyer.
While the lawyers were still begging, the judge pronounced that the case has been adjourned till April 13 for adoption, and rose for the day.
Earlier, when the case was called in the morning, Kehinde told the court that Sowore had a recording device with him in the dock.
He urged the court to direct that the device be taken from the defendant.
Sowore, who the judge granted permission to speak, denied being in possession of any recording device, adding that he only had with him his eye glasses, power bank and phone.
Justice Umar recalled that the court had earlier made an order that the defendant should not bring any gadget with him while in the dock.
The judge then asked him to submit the items to his lawyers, which he handed to a court official, who transferred them to Sowore’s lawyer.
When asked to proceed with the case, Abubakar claimed to have only learnt about Monday’s sitting few moments before the court’s session began.
Abubakar said he was not in court with the case file, because he was in another court for a separate case. He then applied for a stand down till 12. 30 pm to enable him retrieve the file from his office.
Although Kehinde objected, arguing that it was a ploy by the defence to further delay proceedings, the judge granted the stand down.
When proceedings resumed a little to 1pm, Abubakar cross-examined the sole prosecution witness, Cyril Nosike (a DSS official) for about two hours.
Abubakar also tendered copies of newspaper publications, some of which he later gave to the witness to read from.
