A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed January 22 for the commencement of trial in the cyber-bullying case filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) against Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 general election.
Justice Mohammed Umar set the date after Sowore was re-arraigned on a two-count amended charge bordering on cyberstalking under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024.
In the amended charge, Sowore is accused of making false claims against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by referring to him as a criminal in posts made on his X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook accounts on August 25, 2025. The DSS alleged that the posts were made knowingly and intentionally, and were capable of causing a breakdown of law and order.
At the start of proceedings, prosecuting counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), applied to withdraw the earlier charge which had listed Sowore, X Inc. and Meta (Facebook) Inc. as defendants. The court granted the application and struck out the names of X Inc. and Meta from the case, leaving Sowore as the sole defendant.
Proceedings were temporarily stalled when defence counsel, Abubakar, objected to the prosecution’s attempt to call its first witness, arguing that the defendant had not been provided with sufficient materials to prepare his defence.
Citing relevant constitutional provisions and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), the defence insisted on being served with the names of prosecution witnesses and summaries of their testimonies. Although the prosecution disagreed, Justice Umar directed the DSS to furnish Sowore with the required witness summaries before trial begins.