The Federal Government has filed a five-count charge against activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, over a social media post in which he referred to President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal.”
The charges, entered on Tuesday before the Federal High Court in Abuja, were brought through the Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr. M. B. Abubakar.
According to the prosecution, Sowore’s statement amounted to offences contrary to and punishable under Section 24 (1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024, as well as Sections 59 and 375 of the Criminal Code Act.
Also named as co-defendants in the case marked FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025 are ‘X’ Inc. and Meta Inc. (Facebook), the platforms where the post was published.
The controversial remarks were made by Sowore on August 25, shortly after President Tinubu, while on an official visit to Brazil, declared that his administration had succeeded in eradicating corruption in Nigeria.
In reaction to the post, the Department of State Services petitioned the two social media companies, demanding that Sowore’s accounts be suspended and the statement removed.
A similar letter was also directed to Sowore himself, requesting that he delete the content across all platforms.
The refusal of both the activist and the social media platforms to comply with the DSS requests is believed to have prompted the Federal Government’s decision to pursue charges in court.
Government prosecutors insist Sowore’s post was deliberately aimed at inciting unrest and undermining the image of the President.
Among the evidence they plan to tender are printouts of the posts and copies of the DSS letters to the tech companies.
One of the charges read, “That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult, male, on or about the 25th day of August, 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did use your official X Handle page, @Yele Sowore, to send out a message/ tweet as : “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”, which you know the said message to be false but posted it 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) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 24 (1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.”
Another count accuses Sowore of making a similar post on his Facebook page the following day, August 26. It states:
“That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult, male, on or about the 26th day of August, 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did use your official Facebook page, Omoyele Sowore, to send out a message/ post as : “THIS CRIMINAL @ OFFICIAL PBAT ACTUALLY WENT To anazit STATE THAT THERE IS NO MORE CORRUPTION UNDER HIS REGIME IN NIGERIA. WHAT AUDACITY TO LIE SHAMELESSLY,” which you know the said message/post to be false but posted it 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) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 24 (1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.”
A further charge alleges defamation under the Criminal Code Act, “That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult, male on or about the 25th day of August, 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, using the instrurnentality of X, via your official X account @Yele Sowore, did knowingly published defamatory material on your online platform viz: “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”, against the personality and reputation of the President and CommanderinChief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 375 of the Criminal Code Act.”
As of now, no date has been scheduled for the arraignment of Sowore and the co-defendants.
