The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday rejected an application by the Department of State Services seeking to re-admit exhibits previously dismissed in the trial of former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), over alleged unlawful possession of firearms.

Justice Peter Lifu, ruling on the motion filed by DSS lead counsel, Oladipupo Okpeseyi, said the court could not admit exhibits it had already rejected. At the previous sitting on September 25, Okpeseyi requested that the court move proceedings to the DSS headquarters in Abuja to inspect vehicles allegedly recovered from Dasuki’s residence during the 2015 execution of a search warrant. He argued that the vehicles had been held at the DSS facility for ten years and should be inspected to aid their admission as evidence.

When Justice Lifu sought clarification, Okpeseyi disclosed that the items were those listed as numbers 18 to 28 on the search warrant, all allegedly recovered from Dasuki’s Abuja home. Reminded that the same items had been marked as rejected, the DSS counsel insisted he had the right to re-present them, stating that “a proper foundation for their admission had not been laid at the time.” He argued that the alleged deficiency had now been resolved and that “the rejection was not based on irrelevance to the trial.”

However, Dasuki’s counsel, A. A. Usman, opposed the motion, describing it as “strange and unknown to law.” He maintained that “once an exhibit has been rejected and marked as such, it stands rejected and cannot be re-admitted by the same court.” Usman warned that Justice Lifu could not revisit the decision “through the back door,” reminding the court that in a July 10 ruling, the exhibits were declared irrelevant to the charge and inadmissible. He insisted that the only lawful step available to the DSS was to appeal.

Urging the court to reject the motion, he described it as “baseless, ill-conceived, misplaced, unwarranted, and a ploy to turn back the hands of the clock.”

In a firm ruling, Justice Lifu reaffirmed that the exhibits “remain rejected,” stating they were earlier struck out due to lack of relevance and proper foundation. He added that admitting them now “through the back door,” as requested by the DSS, would amount to “judicial rascality and pettiness,” which the court would not entertain.

“I recall that on July 10, 2025, I delivered a considered ruling rejecting the same sets of exhibits due to improper foundation for their admission and lack of relevance to the charge. That ruling still subsists, and I am bound by it,” Justice Lifu said.

“Any attempt to go against that same ruling will amount to judicial rascality and pettiness. Common sense does not even support granting this kind of request. This court rejects the invitation, and the request is hereby dismissed,” he ruled.