Human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections, Omoyele Sowore, has mocked the Department of State Services (DSS) over the reported decision to suspend his ongoing prosecution until after the 2027 presidential election.
Sowore, in a post on X on Sunday, described the development as a victory for resistance, claiming that the secret police had been forced to back down after pursuing the case against him for almost a year.
The development follows reports that the DSS had directed its legal team to take steps to suspend the prosecution until after the 2027 presidential election, a move reportedly intended to allow Sowore to participate fully in the electoral process without the ongoing court proceedings becoming a hindrance.
The decision reportedly came after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially lifted the restriction on presidential campaign activities on August 19, 2026.
According to a source close to the DSS legal team cited by Vanguard, the agency’s Director-General, Tosin Ajayi, met with its lead counsel, Akinolu Kehinde, SAN, and senior officials in the DSS Directorate of Legal Services on August 20 to discuss the possibility of suspending the proceedings.
The source claimed that Ajayi told the senior lawyer and other legal officials that, with the commencement of presidential campaigns, it would be fair to pause the case to enable Sowore to participate fully in the forthcoming election without let or hindrance.
The source further stated that the DSS leadership considered the case to have already spent nearly a year in court and believed that postponing the proceedings for another four months would not make a significant difference.
The case against Sowore reportedly arose from social media posts he made in 2025 in which he referred to President Bola Tinubu as a criminal.
Reacting to the reported decision, Sowore framed the development as evidence that sustained resistance could defeat what he described as oppression and the unlawful use of state power.
In a strongly worded post, the AAC presidential candidate accused the DSS of attempting to intimidate him through the legal process, while declaring that he and his supporters had refused to be intimidated.
“Lawless DSS Learns a Bitter Lesson: Resistance Prevails, and Our Resolve Remains Unbroken!” Sowore wrote.
He accompanied the statement with a quote attributed to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.: “A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.”
Sowore argued that oppression thrives when people submit to intimidation, insisting that his refusal to bend had helped force the security agency to reconsider its position.
“If you bend your back, someone will stand on it forever. That is the nature of oppression: it thrives wherever people are forced into submission, and they accept it,” he said.
“The lawless @OfficialDSSNG has now been forced to eat humble pie. We told them from day one that this was an exercise in futility.
“We have fought too many of these battles to be intimidated now, and we have prevailed again and again.”
The activist also linked the latest development to his longstanding confrontation with successive Nigerian governments, recalling his activism during the era of military dictatorship, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari and the current administration of President Bola Tinubu.
“From the brutal days of military dictatorship, through the dark years of Buhari, and now under the Tinubu regime, we have remained standing, resisting, organizing, and fighting,” Sowore said.
Despite welcoming the reported suspension, Sowore insisted that the DSS should go further by withdrawing the charge against him and apologising for what he described as an abuse of state power.
He also demanded compliance with court orders relating to the payment of ₦3 million in fines.
Beyond the trial, Sowore called on the DSS to immediately return phones and a drone allegedly seized from his assistant, Zainab Sodiq, describing the seizure as unlawful.
The AAC candidate maintained that the reported suspension of his prosecution did not mark the end of his confrontation with the security agency, but rather another stage in what he described as a prolonged struggle against oppression and abuse of power.
“Our struggle remains firm. Our resolve is unbroken. We are unstoppable,” he declared.