The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday adjourned the arraignment of Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, to November 5.
Naijaonpoint reports that the case, which was slated for Sowore and his co-defendants to take their pleas, could not proceed following the absence of the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, who was said to be sitting in another division of the court.
Consequently, the matter was shifted to November 5 for continuation.
Sowore is standing trial alongside X Incorp. (formerly Twitter) and Meta (Facebook) Inc., who are listed as the 1st to 3rd defendants in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025.
The judge had, on September 30, fixed Monday’s date to enable Sowore to prepare adequately for his defence.
The activist, who was the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in 2019 and 2023, is facing a five-count charge filed on September 16 by the Department of State Services (DSS) on behalf of the Federal Government.
According to the prosecution, Sowore allegedly described President Bola Tinubu as “a criminal” in posts shared on his official X handle (@YeleSowore) and his Facebook page.
One of the charges read, “That you, Omoyele Sowore, on or about August 25, did use your official X handle page, @Yele Sowore, to send out a message/tweet: ‘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 prosecution alleged that the message, which Sowore “knew to be false,” was published “for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order in the country, especially among individuals who hold divergent views on the personality of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR).”
The charges against Sowore were brought under Section 24 (1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, among other provisions.
The Federal Government had earlier requested the removal of the alleged defamatory posts before filing the charges.
© 2025 Naijaonpoint, a division of NOP Media Inc. Contact us via [email protected]