The Department of State Services (DSS), has arraigned Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters, at the Federal High Court in Abuja for allegedly cyberbullying President Bola Tinubu.
Sowore was arraigned before Justice Mohammed Umar, on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty.
It will be recalled that the federal government, had in September 2025, filed a suit against politician Sowore, Facebook’s parent company Meta, and X Corp. for allegedly cyberbullying President Bola Tinubu.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025, was filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, by the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mohammed Abubakar.
Sowore, a former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), was accused of making false claims against President Tinubu by describing him as “a criminal” in a post on his official X handle, @YeleSowore, on Aug. 25.
The prosecution alleged that Sowore knowingly published the false statement to cause a breakdown of law and order, especially among Nigerians with divergent views about the President.
Earlier when the matter was called for Sowore to take his plea, his lawyer, Marshal Abubakar, challenged the competency of the charge, arguing that a preliminary objection had been served on the counsel for prosecution, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN).
He, however, informed the court that the preliminary objections were served on the DSS lawyer a few minutes before commencement of the proceedings.
He argued that his client cannot take a plea on a charge that was incompetent.
Responding, Kehinde vehemently objected to Abubakar’s submission.
The senior lawyer, who argued that the application was not ripe to be taken, said the business of the day was for Sowore’s arraignment.
He said the preliminary objections filed was part of the mischief of the first defendant (Sowore)’s lawyer to delay proceedings in the matter.
He reminded the court that so many adjournments had been granted at the instance of the first defendant.
Kehinde, who cited Section 396(3) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015 to back his argument, said no application ought to be heard until Sowore’s arraignment.
Lawyers who appeared for X Incorp (formerly Twitter) and Meta (Facebook) Incorp (2nd and 3rd defendants) did not oppose the application for the defendants to take their plea.
In a short ruling, Justice Umar aligned with the argument of the DSS lawyer and ordered that the arraignment should proceed.
