The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday gave activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore three days to study the cybercrime charges filed against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Sowore was scheduled to be arraigned before Justice Mohammed Garba, but the case stalled because he had not been properly served with the charges. He is being tried alongside X (formerly Twitter) and Meta Platforms (Facebook), listed as the second and third defendants.
The DSS accused Sowore of making false and defamatory posts about President Bola Tinubu on his X and Facebook accounts, with the intention of causing disorder. One of the posts quoted in the charge read: “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!”
The prosecution claims the posts violated the Cybercrimes (Prohibition and Prevention) Act 2024 and the Criminal Code Act.
Related Stories:
- Obasanjo Warns Out-of-School Children Could Fuel Future Boko Haram Recruitment
- Tinubu Orders Probe Into Killing of Arise TV Anchor Somtochukwu Maduagwu
In court, Sowore’s lawyer, Abubakar Marshall, argued that his client had not been served with the charges, as required by law. He also pointed out that the second defendant, X, had not been served. However, the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Babadoko Abubakar, insisted that Sowore had already been served.
After checking the case file, Justice Garba ruled that service had not been done. The judge then allowed the DPPF to serve Sowore in open court.
Sowore accepted the documents and asked for three days to prepare his defense. Despite objections from the prosecution, the judge granted the request.
“The court will adjourn to the 27th day of October for the arraignment of the defendants,” Justice Garba said.
While Sowore had legal representation, X had none. Professor Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) appeared in court for Meta Platforms.