The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in 2023, Omoyele Sowore, has escaped an arrest warrant from a federal high court in Abuja, following his failure to appear before the court for arraignment on defamation charges.
During proceedings on Wednesday, Counsel for the Department of the State Service (DSS), Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, urged Justice Mohammed Umar to issue a bench warrant against Sowore for being absent in court without justification, having been served the charges and hearing notice from the last adjourned date.
The senior lawyer said the action of Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters media, staying away from court despite being served with the charges is an affront to the sanctity of the court and must be treated with punishment such behavior deserved.
Kehinde said that Sowore’s action was disturbing and unacceptable because no lawyer appeared for him as required by law.
He urged the Judge to invoke his inherent power to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the defendant by security agents wherever he may be.
Justice Umar however noted that the order for bench warrant will not subsist for now, following the submission of the 2nd defendant, X Corporation that they have not been served the charge sheet even though they received hearing notice.
The trial Judge then directed that all parties should be duly served and then adjourned the case to December 2,2025 for arraignment to take place.
Meanwhile, counsel to X Corporation, Christabel Ndiokwelo told the court that the complainant had yet to serve the formal charges on their client, noting that only a hearing notice had been served earlier.
Earlier in the proceeding, the DSS lawyer had drawn the attention of the court to a letter by Deji Adeyanju, calling for an adjournment in the case, hence his request for a bench warrant, noting that Sowore is only taking the court for granted.
META (Facebook) INC, through their lawyer, Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, aligned himself with the prosecution’s request for a bench warrant against Sowore, stating that the 1st defendant had accused them of taking sides with the prosecution.
Oyetibo noted that the letter for adjournment is a form of distraction as Sowore knows what he is doing.
After taking arguments, Justice Umar fixed December 2 for arraignment of all the defendants and also directed that a hearing notice must be served on them.
