Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja has set aside a subpoena issued at the instance of activist Omoyele Sowore against the Department of State Services (DSS) lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, in the alleged cyberbullying trial.

Delivering his ruling, Justice Umar held that lawyers owe their clients a strict duty of confidentiality and generally cannot be compelled to disclose communications relating to legal representation.

He further held that a lawyer could only be compelled to testify in limited circumstances, including where the evidence concerned an uncontested matter or an issue that would not adversely affect the client.

Following the ruling, defence counsel, Ruben Adakole, informed the court of the defence’s intention to subpoena APC chieftain, Joe Igbokwe, and INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan.

The court subsequently ordered that subpoenas be issued for the proposed witnesses.

Justice Umar adjourned the trial until November 11 for the appearance of the subpoenaed defence witnesses.