The 2023 presidential candidate of Africa Action Congress (AAC) and activist, Omoyele Sowore, was on Tuesday granted bail after being arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja by the Department of State Services (DSS) for calling President Bola Ahmed Tinubu “Criminal”.
Sowore earlier posted on his Facebook account that he would appear before the High Court over calling Tinubu a criminal.
The activist was threatened to pull down his tweet calling Tinubu “criminal”, but refused, which led DSS to file a cybercrime against him in August.
Earlier today, Sowore was granted bail on self‑recognition, but Justice Mohammed Umar barred him from further making statements that were “detrimental to the peace and security of the country”.
The judge threatened to revoke the bail granted Sowore should he ever make such statements.
The arraignment came after two previous attempts, with the politician’s lawyer introducing what the DSS lawyer, Akinolu Kehinde called legal obstacles.
On Tuesday, however, Justice Umar held that since there was evidence that Sowore was a presidential candidate in the country before and having also earlier been granted bail by the court, with his international passport still being held by the court, he was entitled to be granted bail on self-recognition.
READ ALSO: Sowore alleges secret transfer of Nnamdi Kanu to Sokoto prison after life sentence
The ruling was on a bail application argued by his lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, shortly after Sowore was arraigned on a five-count charge, in which he is accused of defaming Tinubu by referring to him as a criminal in his posts on X and Facebook.
When the charge, being prosecuted by the DSS was read to him, Sowore pleaded not guilty.
In the charge, Sowore is being accused of contravening the provisions of the the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024 and the Criminal Code Act by calling Tinubu a criminal.
The two other defendants listed in the charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025 are X Incorp (formerly Twitter) and Meta (Facebook) Incorp
In his Facebook account, he tweeted that he would face the lawless DSS over his truthful expression on social media.
His post reads, “Once again today, I will be attending a sham trial orchestrated by the lawless DSS over my truthful expression on social media, in which I described President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a criminal. For exercising free speech, the DSS has dragged me before a Federal High Court judge in Abuja on fabricated criminal charges.
READ MORE: Alleged defamatory post: Court refuses to order Sowore’s arrest
“This case should never have been contemplated by any serious or legitimate security agency. But the Director-General of the DSS appears determined to engage in “eye service,” presiding over an institution crippled by incompetence, hypocrisy and intolerance, one of the many reasons Nigeria remains in a profound state of crisis today”.
“We will not back down. There are battered people to rescue, and the struggle continues. #RevolutionNow”
