The Department of State Services (DSS) arraigned political activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore before a Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, charging him with five counts of cybercrime and defamation for calling President Bola Tinubu a “criminal” in a social media post.
After two earlier attempts to arraign him, Sowore pleaded not guilty to the charges. Justice Mohammed Umar, the presiding judge, granted him bail on self-recognition, considering his previous status as a presidential candidate.
The five-count charge (FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025) accuses Sowore of violating the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024, and the Criminal Code Act. The charges relate to posts Sowore made on X and Facebook in August 2025, where he allegedly labeled President Tinubu a “criminal.”
The DSS also named X Incorp (formerly Twitter) and Meta (Facebook) Incorp as co-defendants, likely due to their refusal to remove the contested posts. Sowore, who ran for president under the African Action Congress (AAC) in 2019 and 2023, denied all five charges.
Justice Umar granted bail without requiring a bond or sureties, a privilege given to prominent individuals like Sowore. He noted that Sowore’s international passport was already in court custody from a previous case.
The judge also prohibited Sowore from making further statements that could threaten national peace and security, warning that violating this condition would result in bail revocation.
