Inside The Clash: How Osinbajo Took On DSS Over Sowore’s Detention

A new book has unveiled how former Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo clashed with the Department of State Services (DSS) during the Muhammadu Buhari administration over the agency’s refusal to comply with a court order to release Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The book, I Write What I Like, authored by veteran journalist Richard Akinnola, details the 2019 incident when Sowore was detained despite repeated judicial orders for his release.

According to Akinnola, Osinbajo privately expressed frustration with the DSS, emphasizing that he could not remain in office while court orders were blatantly ignored.

“Osinbajo said he had a job to return to after leaving office and could not be around when such an order was being flouted. The DSS had told him that there could not be two presidents, a veiled reference to how he, acting as president in 2018, had sacked Lawal Daura as DG of DSS,” Akinnola wrote.

The journalist also recounted meeting with the then Vice President to appeal for further intervention, which led to Sowore’s release on the same day.

“I decided to see him so he could apply more pressure on his government, which he did, and Sowore was released that same day,” Akinnola stated.

The book further highlights Akinnola’s use of back-channel efforts to secure justice in controversial cases, including the eventual bail of the detained Shi’ite leader, El-Zakzaky.

“Beyond advocacy, I sometimes explored back channels to get things done, like in El-Zakzaky’s case, who was eventually granted bail through this method,” he revealed.