Abuja, Nigeria – October 14, 2025 — Justice Peter Odo Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has dismissed an application by the Department of State Services (DSS) seeking to re-present exhibits previously rejected in the ongoing trial of former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), over alleged unlawful possession of firearms.
Delivering ruling on Tuesday, Justice Lifu described the DSS’s request as legally untenable, stating that the court cannot revisit exhibits it had earlier ruled inadmissible due to lack of proper foundation and irrelevance to the charges.
The application, argued by DSS lead counsel, Oladipupo Okpeseyi (SAN), sought to reintroduce several items earlier marked as rejected. Okpeseyi had also requested the court to relocate its sitting to the DSS headquarters in Abuja to inspect vehicles allegedly recovered from Dasuki’s residence during a 2015 search.
However, Justice Lifu firmly rejected the motion, warning that granting it would amount to judicial “rascality and pettiness.”
“I recall that on July 10, 2025, I delivered a considered ruling rejecting the same set of exhibits due to improper foundation and lack of relevance to the charge. That ruling still stands, and I am bound by it,” the judge stated.
“Any attempt to go against that decision would be judicial rascality. Even common sense does not support granting this kind of request. This court firmly rejects the application.”
During the proceedings, Okpeseyi argued that the previous rejection was solely based on procedural errors in laying the foundation for admission, not on the merit or relevance of the exhibits. He contended that the prosecution had now laid a proper foundation and urged the court to reconsider.
He further cited legal authorities and asked the court to inspect the vehicles—listed as items 18 to 28 on the original search warrant—at the DSS facility, claiming they were critical to the prosecution’s case.
But Justice Lifu questioned the legal basis for such a move, noting that admitting the exhibits through “the back door” would effectively place the court in the position of sitting in appeal over its own judgment—a position he described as legally impermissible.
Defence counsel, A. A. Usman, strongly opposed the motion, describing it as “strange, misplaced, and unknown to Nigerian law.” He emphasized that once a court has rejected exhibits and marked them accordingly, the matter can only be revisited by a higher court.
Reading from the court’s earlier ruling, Usman reminded the judge that the exhibits had not only lacked proper foundation but were also deemed irrelevant to the charge of unlawful possession of firearms.
“The only lawful option available to the prosecution is to appeal the ruling. Asking this court to revisit its own decision is procedurally and legally unacceptable,” Usman argued, urging the court to dismiss the application as “baseless and a ploy to draw the hands of the clock backward.”
With Tuesday’s ruling, the DSS’s attempt to revive the previously rejected evidence in Dasuki’s trial has been effectively quashed, reaffirming the court’s earlier stance on the inadmissibility of the exhibits.
The trial is expected to continue on the next adjourned date.
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