The Federal Government is set to arraign human rights activist and Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, on a five-count charge over posts about President Bola Tinubu, which prosecutors claim were intended to incite a breakdown of law and order.
Sowore appeared at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday ahead of his arraignment. The case, filed on September 16, 2025, stemmed from his refusal to delete a controversial post on X. In the post, he wrote:
“This criminal @officialPBAT actually went to Brazil to state that there is no more corruption under his regime in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly!”
Prosecutors allege the statement, made on August 25, contravened Section 24(2)(b) of the Cybercrimes Prohibition and Prevention Act 2024. The charges were filed on behalf of the Federal Government and the DSS by M.B. Abubakar, Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, along with four DSS counsels – M.E. Ernest, U.B. Bulla, Dr. C.S. Eze, and E.G. Orubor. X Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. were also listed as co-defendants.
Reacting in a Facebook post, Sowore wrote:
“The State Security Service, alias @OfficialDSSNG today filed a 5-count charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja against ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and myself. They claimed that because I called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu a criminal, I have somehow committed a set of ‘novel’ offences they invented and spread across five counts.
“It’s hard to believe there’s anyone sensible left in these offices that should be making Nigeria work. Regardless, I will be present whenever this case is assigned for trial. #RevolutionNow.”
Sowore, the African Action Congress candidate in the 2023 presidential election, had earlier vowed not to delete the post despite a DSS letter to X demanding its removal. Restating his position, he said:
“This morning, X (formerly Twitter) officially contacted me about the despicable threat letter they received from the lawless DSS over my Tweet on Tinubu. One option I will NOT be taking is deleting that Tweet. Thank you, @X.”
