Court Adjourns Sowore’s Arraignment On Cybercrime Charges To October 27

Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja, has adjourned the arraignment of Omoyele Sowore and two others on Cybercrime charges to October 27.

The arraignment could not proceed due to the inability of the federal government to serve the charge sheet on Sowore.

When the matter was called, Sowore through his lead counsel, Abubakar Marshall, protested that he had not seen a copy of the charge or be served personally as required by law.

Counsel to the federal government, Mohammed Babadoko Abubakar, director of the Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) however debunked the claim of non-service of the charge and insisted that Sowore had been served.

At this point, the trial judge, Justice Umar consulted with the case file and found that Sowore had not been served.

The DPPF subsequently applied for an order to serve him in the open court which was granted.

Sowore personally accepted the service in the open court.

Trouble, however, arose when Sowore applied for three days as required by law to study the charge and prepare for his defense.

Although, the DPPF objected to the request, the request was granted by the Judge.

The arraignment was subsequently fixed for October 27.

At Tuesday’s proceedings, Professor Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, represented the third accused person, Meta Incorporation while the second defendant X, was not represented.

Sowore and the two accused persons were billed to be docked for allegedly making false posts against President Bola Tinubu allegedly to cause a breakdown of law and order in the country.

The criminal charges filed on Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at the Federal High Court in Abuja has X Incorporation and Meta (Facebook) as two other defendants.

In the 5-count criminal charges marked FHC/ABJ/CR)484/2025, Sowore was accused of using his official X handle page at Yele Sowore to tweet, “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!”

The alleged offending post said to be contrary to Section 24(2) (b) of the Cybercrimes Prohibition and Prevention Act 2024 was said to have been made on August 25, 2025 within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.

In count two, Sowore was said to have on August 26, used his official page Facebook to send the same false message out for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order in the country, especially among those who hold divergent views on the person of President Tinubu.

The alleged offence is said to be a contradiction of Section 24(2) (b) of the Cybercrimes Prohibition and Prevention Act 2024.

In count three, the activist was accused of using the instrumentality of X, via his official account at Yele Sowore to publish defamatory material on his online platform to wit: “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 President Bola Tinubu.”

He was said to have committed an offence contrary to Section 375 of the Criminal Code.

The Department of the State Service (DSS) which filed the charges on behalf of the federal government also accused Sowore of using the instrumentality of his Facebook platform to publish defamatory material against the Nigeria’s President contrary to Section 375 of the Criminal Code.

In count five, the defendant was alleged to have with the intent to cause public fear and disturbances, published false information against the reputation of President Tinubu contrary to Section 59 of the Criminal Code Act and punishable under the same act.