Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned until Friday, May 8, to rule on the no-case submission filed by activist Omoyele Sowore, who is standing trial for allegedly calling President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a “criminal”.
The court fixed the date after hearing and adopting written addresses for and against the no-case submission filed on April 21, 2026, by Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters, an online media platform.
While adopting the no-case submission, Sowore’s counsel, Marshall Abubakar, told the court that the prosecution failed to link his client to the alleged offences.
In the no-case submission, Sowore applied for the court to dismiss the charge against him, discharge and acquit him of the two-count cyberbullying charge on the ground that a prima facie case had not been made against him.
Marshall Abubakar said that, upon a review of the evidence, the complainant failed to link his client to the two-count charge filed against him by the Federal Government.
According to the lawyer, the prosecution failed to call a vital witness essential to its case and urged the court to grant the no-case submission filed by the defendant.
While opposing the no-case submission, the prosecution counsel, Mr Akinlolu Kehinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the prosecution filed a response on April 23, urging the court to refuse the defendant’s application.
Kehinde urged the court to dismiss the no-case submission and hold that the prosecution had established a prima facie case on all the essential elements of the offences in the two-count charge.
He told the court that the Department of State Services (DSS) is not obligated to wait until an actual breakdown of law and order occurs before taking action, adding that the evidence of the first prosecution witness (PW1) is sufficient to require the defendant to enter his defence.
After adopting the processes filed in the matter, the trial judge adjourned until May 8 for ruling on the no-case submission.
The DSS, prosecuting Sowore on behalf of the Federal Government, had amended the cyberbullying charges against him.
In the amended charge filed on December 5, 2025, Sowore, a presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), was re-arraigned by the DSS on two counts bordering on the alleged defamation of Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025, was signed by Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN) on behalf of the Federal Government.
Count one reads: “That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult, male, on or about the 25th day of August 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did knowingly or intentionally send a message by means of a computer system or network, to wit: your official ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) handle page, @YeleSowore, wherein you posted the following message/tweet: ‘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,’ which message you knew to be false and posted for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order in Nigeria, posing a threat to life, or causing such message to be sent, and thereby committed the offence of cyberstalking contrary to Section 24(1)(b) and 24(2)(a), (6), and (c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention and Amendment) Act, 2024, and punishable under the same section.
Count two reads: “That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult, male, on or about the 25th day of August 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did knowingly or intentionally send a message by means of a computer system or network, to wit: your official Facebook handle page, @YeleSowore, wherein you posted the following message/post: ‘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,’ which message you knew to be false and posted for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order in Nigeria, posing a threat to life or causing such message to be sent, and thereby committed the offence of cyberstalking contrary to Section 24(1)(b) and 24(2)(a), (b), and (c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention and Amendment) Act, 2024, and punishable under the same section.
However, Sowore pleaded not guilty to the two-count charges when they were read to him, prompting the DSS to call its witnesses and tender exhibits to support the cyberbullying charges.
