Court Dismisses DSS Bid to Reintroduce Rejected Evidence Against Sambo Dasuki
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed an attempt by the Department of State Service (DSS) to reintroduce a series of exhibits that were previously rejected by the court in the ongoing trial of former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (Rtd.), on charges of unlawful possession of firearms.
Justice Peter Odo Lifu on Tuesday denied the application, holding that since the exhibits had been rejected and marked as such—due to inappropriate foundation and lack of relevance to the charge—they stand rejected.
The DSS, represented by its lead lawyer Oladipupo Okpeseyi, SAN, had argued for the right to represent the exhibits, claiming the initial rejection was based only on improper foundation, which he had now corrected.
Judge Cites “Judicial Rascality”
Justice Lifu firmly rejected the prosecution’s request, stating that admitting the evidence “through the back door” would amount to judicial rascality and pettiness and would place his court in the position of sitting as an appellate court over its own decision.
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“I recall that on July 10, 2025, I delivered a considered ruling, rejecting the same sets of exhibits due to improper foundation for their admission and lack of relevance to the charge. That ruling still subsist and I am bound by it,” Justice Lifu stated in his ruling.
The rejection came after the DSS lawyer, at the September 25 proceedings, had surprisingly requested the court to move its sitting to the DSS Headquarters in Abuja to inspect several vehicles recovered from Dasuki’s house during a 2015 search, with the intention of admitting them as exhibits.
Defence Calls Application “Strange and Unknown to Law”
Counsel to Dasuki, Mr. A. A. Usman, vehemently objected to the DSS application, calling it “strange and unknown to law.” He argued that once an exhibit is rejected and marked so by the court, it remains rejected.
Usman reminded Justice Lifu of his July 10 ruling, which explicitly stated that the rejected exhibits had no relevance to the charges of unlawful possession of firearms. He submitted that the only option available to the DSS was to challenge the earlier rejection at the Court of Appeal, rather than inviting the trial judge to sit as an appeal court on the same matter.
Usman pleaded with the court to throw away the application as baseless and a ploy to delay proceedings.
By PRNigeria
