Court dismisses Sowore’s no-case submission against charges of calling Tinubu ‘criminal’

Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday dismissed the no-case submission made by activist Omoyele Sowore in the cyberbullying charge brought against him by the Federal Government over his description of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “criminal.”

The court upheld the charges against Sowore for allegedly calling Tinubu a “criminal” on his X handle and ordered him to enter his defence in the charges preferred against him by the Department of State Services (DSS) on behalf of the Federal Government.

Sowore had filed the no-case submission, praying the court to discharge and acquit him of the two-count charge.

In the ruling, Justice Umar held that the DSS had successfully linked Sowore with the alleged offences and that a prima facie case had been established against him, warranting his defence.

Shortly after the ruling, Sowore openly accused the judge of bias, saying he would not get justice in the court, and asked the judge to step down from his trial to allow another judge to conduct the proceedings.

He alleged that the judge was playing along with the federal government to convict him at all costs and prevent him from contesting the 2027 general election.

Sowore’s position was echoed by his lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, who pointedly accused the judge of favouring the federal government in the conduct of the trial.

Abubakar asked the judge to return the case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge.

The DSS lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, who had earlier asked the judge not to grant audience to Sowore but to his counsel on record, prayed that the recusal application be discountenanced.

In a brief ruling, Justice Umar ordered Sowore to file a formal application for recusal and state his grievances, subsequently adjourning till May 19 for the defendant to open his defence and for hearing of his recusal application.

In the no-case submission, Sowore had applied for the dismissal of the charge against him on the ground that a prima facie case was not established. His counsel, Marshall Abubakar, argued that the complainant failed to link his client with the two-count charge and that the prosecution’s failure to call a vital witness was fatal to its case.

While opposing the no-case submission, prosecution counsel Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, said the prosecution had filed a response on April 23 urging the court to refuse the defendant’s prayers, arguing that a prima facie case had been established on all essential ingredients of the offences charged.

In the amended charge filed on December 5, 2025, Sowore, the presidential candidate of the Action Alliance Congress (AAC), was re-arraigned by the DSS on two counts bordering on defamation of Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

ALSO READ: I was misrepresented, never promised to fix power grid in three months — Tegbe

Count one of the charge reads, “That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult, male, on or about the 25th day of August 2025 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did knowingly or intentionally send a message by means of a computer system or network, to wit: your official “X” (formerly Twitter) handle page, @YeleSowore wherein you posted the following message/tweet: ‘This criminal @officialABAT actually went to Brazil to state that there is no more corruption under his regime in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly, which message you knew to be fake and posted for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order in Nigeria, posing a threat to life, or causing such message to be sent and thereby committed the offence of Cyberstalking contrary to Section 24(1) (b) and 24(2) (a), (6), and (c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention Amendment) Act, 2024 and punishable under the same section.

Count two reads, “That you Omoyele Sowore, Adult, Male, on or about the 25th day of August, 2025. within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did knowingly or intentionally send a message by means of a computer system or network, to wit: your Official Facebook handle page. @YeleSowore, wherein you posted the following message/post: “This criminal @officialABAT actually went to Brazil to state that there Is no more corruption under his regime in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly” which message you knew to be false and posted for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order in Nigeria, posing a threat to life or causing such message to be sent and thereby committed the offence of Cyberstalking contrary to Section 241(b) and 24(2) (a), (b), and (c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, (Amendment) Act 2024 and punishable under the same section.

Sowore pleaded not guilty to both counts when the charges were read to him, prompting the DSS to call its witnesses and tender exhibits to establish the cyberbullying charges.