3 weeks ago
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Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has dismissed the Department of State Service (DSS) ‘s petition to re-present for admittance exhibits rejected by the tribunal successful the proceedings of erstwhile nationalist information advisor (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki, connected unlawful possession of firearms.
The tribunal yesterday dismissed the petition by the DSS pb lawyer, Oladipupo Okpeseyi (SAN).
Justice Lifu held they remained rejected since the exhibits were marked arsenic specified owed to an inappropriate instauration for their admittance and a deficiency of relevance to the charge.
The justice said that admitting them done the backmost doorway arsenic requested by the prosecution would magnitude to judicial rascality and pettiness, which the tribunal cannot spend to dabble in.
Similarly, Justice Lifu held that toeing the prosecution’s way would enactment his tribunal successful the unsafe presumption of sitting arsenic the Court of Appeal implicit his ain decision.
“I callback that connected July 10, 2025, I delivered a considered ruling, rejecting the aforesaid sets of exhibits owed to improper instauration for their admittance and deficiency of relevance to the charge. That ruling inactive subsists and I americium bound by it.
“Any effort to toed the paths of going against the aforesaid ruling volition decidedly magnitude to judicial rascality, pettiness. Common consciousness does not adjacent enactment granting this benignant of request.
This tribunal rejects the invitation and the petition is hereby rejected.
Okpeseyi applied to Justice Lifu connected September 25 to determination the court’s sitting to DSS Headquarters successful Abuja to inspect immoderate vehicles said to person been recovered successful Dasuki’s location during a 2015 hunt warrant.
He said that the vehicles person been parked astatine the DSS office for the past 10 years and should beryllium inspected by the tribunal earlier being admitted arsenic exhibits against Dasuki.
Apparently taken aback by the request, the Judge had requested to cognize the quality of the exhibits to beryllium inspected astatine the DSS headquarters.
In response, the DSS lawyer informed the justice that they were those listed connected the hunt warrant arsenic items 18 to 28 and recovered from the Abuja location of the retired Army Officer.
When reminded that the exhibits had been rejected and marked truthful by the aforesaid court, the elder lawyer claimed that helium had the close to correspond them for the tribunal to admit them against the defendant.
While arguing the exertion for practice of the rejected exhibits, Okpeseyi SAN had cited respective authorities, adding that the exhibits were marked rejected successful the erstwhile proceedings due to the fact that the instauration for tendering them for admittance astatine the clip was not decently laid.
He said the exhibits were rejected simply connected improper instauration for admittance and not connected their irrelevance to the proceedings and urged the tribunal to assistance his request.
However, successful a vehement objection to the request, counsel to Dasuki, Mr A. A. Usman, had said that the exertion by Okpeseyi was unusual and chartless to law, adding that erstwhile an grounds is rejected and marked truthful by the court, it stands rejected.
Usman had submitted that Justice Lifu, having decided connected the exhibits, cannot revisit the aforesaid exhibits and admit them done the backmost door.
English (US) ·