By Eteteonline
The trial of the former African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, activist, and Sahara Reporters publisher is set to begin on Thursday, January 22, in a Federal High Court in Abuja.
Omoyele Sowore was charged with a crime by the Department of State Services (DSS) for allegedly using his social media accounts to post derogatory and fraudulent allegations about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. According to the government, such posts violated Nigeria’s Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024, since they had the potential to cause public unrest.
The DSS wrote to X, Facebook, requesting that Sowore’s August 2025 posts be removed, arguing that the posts were harming the president’s reputation. However, the DSS charged the three with cybercrime after they refused to remove the posts.
After several unsuccessful attempts, the DSS finally arraigned Mr. Sowore as a co-defendant on December 2, 2025, together with Meta Platforms (Facebook) and X Corp (previously Twitter).
The Federal Government dropped Meta and X from the allegations, leaving Sowore as the only defendant.
Sowore was re-arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja on a two-count amended allegation of defamation and cyberstalking, designated FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025.
When the new charge was read to him in court, he entered a not guilty plea to both charges.
The defense has opposed the trial’s commencement, claiming that the prosecution’s improper attachment of witness names and comments to the evidence breaches the right to a fair trial guaranteed by the Constitution.
The trial was scheduled to begin on January 22, 2026, after the court postponed proceedings to allow the prosecution to fulfill legal obligations, including giving the defense witness details.
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