Tinubu: Court adjourns Sowore’s trial
The Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned the arraignment of Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, until October 27.
Justice Mohammed Umar made the adjournment on Tuesday to give Sowore adequate time to prepare his defense.
Sowore, who was the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in 2019 and 2023, is facing a five-count charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) on behalf of the Federal Government.
The case names X Incorp. (formerly Twitter) and Meta (Facebook) Inc. as the second and third defendants, respectively. The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025, was filed on September 16, 2025.
He is alleged to have made a false claim against President Bola Tinubu by referring to him as “a criminal” on his X and Facebook accounts. When the matter was called, Sowore was present in court, as was counsel for Meta, while X had no representation.
The DSS lawyer, Mohammed Abubakar, requested that the charges be read to the defendants so they could enter their plea. Sowore’s counsel, Marshall Abubakar, opposed this, stating that his client had not yet been served with the charge. He also argued that in a criminal trial with multiple defendants, the appearance of the second defendant, X, was crucial to ensure all parties had been properly served.
The court record showed that X and Meta had been served electronically. Following this, the DSS applied to serve the charge on Sowore in open court, a request Justice Umar granted. Both Abubakar and Meta’s counsel, Mofesomo Tayo-Oyetibo, SAN, did not oppose the application. Sowore accepted the service in court.
The DSS then requested an adjournment to allow Sowore adequate time to prepare his defense in line with Section 282(6) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015. Justice Umar adjourned the arraignment to October 27.
The charge followed a previous DSS request for the alleged defamatory messages posted by Sowore on X and Facebook to be removed. He is accused of violating provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024.
According to the charge, on or about August 25, Sowore allegedly used his official X handle, @Yele Sowore, to post a message claiming, “THIS CRIMINAL @ OFFICIAL PBAT ACTUALLY WENT TO BRAZIL TO STATE THAT THERE IS NO MORE CORRUPTION UNDER HIS REGIME IN NIGERIA. WHAT AUDACITY TO LIE SHAMELESSLY!” The statement, which he knew to be false, was allegedly posted with the intent of causing a breakdown of law and order, particularly among individuals with differing views on the president. This act is said to contravene Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, among other counts.
