Court Again Dismisses DSS Bid to Tender Unlisted Exhibits Against Dasuki

The Federal High Court in Abuja has again rejected a request by the Department of State Services (DSS) to tender unlisted exhibits in the ongoing trial of former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki, for unlawful possession of arms.

Justice Peter Odo Lifu, delivering his ruling on Wednesday, refused to admit bunches of vehicle keys allegedly recovered from Dasuki’s Abuja homes. The judge held that the application was unmeritorious because the keys were not listed on the proof of evidence as required by law.

Justice Lifu ruled that the DSS application violated Section 397 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 as well as Sections 4, 5, and 6 of the Evidence Act.

He recalled that he had previously delivered two rulings (on July 10 and October 14, 2025) rejecting the admission of the vehicles themselves, citing a failure to lay a proper foundation and a lack of relevance to the trial.

The judge stressed that since the vehicles had been rejected as exhibits, it would be improper to admit their keys. He agreed with Dasuki’s lawyer, Mr. A. A. Usman, that admitting the keys of the rejected vehicles would be tantamount to the court “blowing hot and cold, aprobating and reprobating at the same time,” which no court should condone.

The court has scheduled the continuation of the trial for December 1, 2, and 3. These dates were adopted to allow the DSS time to retrieve various sums of money allegedly found in Dasuki’s house that were previously deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria. Justice Lifu further ordered the DSS lawyer to be prepared to close the prosecution’s case this year to enable the former NSA to open his defense.