How Osinbajo Confronted DSS Over Sowore’s Detention – New Book Reveals

A new book by veteran journalist Richard Akinnola has revealed how former Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, clashed with the Department of State Services (DSS) over the agency’s refusal to comply with a court order for the release of activist Omoyele Sowore during the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

In the book titled “I Write What I Like”, Akinnola recounted:

“Sometime in 2019, at the height of Sowore’s detention by the Buhari government and the DSS’ refusal to obey a court order for his release, I booked an appointment with the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. I was aware of the previous efforts made by VP Osinbajo to get the DSS to comply, which almost led to a face-off with the security agency.”

According to Akinnola, Osinbajo had expressed frustration at the DSS’ defiance:

“Osinbajo said he had a job to go back to after leaving office and he 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 Osinbajo, as acting president in 2018, sacked Lawal Daura as DG of DSS.”

The author revealed that on the same day he visited Osinbajo, further pressure was mounted on the government and Sowore was released.

“Beyond advocacy, I sometimes explored back channels to get things done, like in the case of the then detained Shi’ite leader, El-Zakzaky, who was eventually granted bail through this method,” Akinnola added.

The 198-page book, which compiles some of Akinnola’s Facebook posts between 2017 and 2025 across 20 chapters, will be unveiled on Saturday, September 13, at the Airport Hotel during the author’s 67th birthday summit. Themed “A Handshake Across the Niger: The Yoruba/Igbo Detente”, the event will be chaired by Iba Gani Adams, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland.