Justice Mohammed Umar of the High Court in Abuja has scheduled October 27, 2025, for the arraignment of human rights activist Omoyele Sowore.
The arraignment, which was expected to take place on Tuesday, was delayed due to the failure to serve Sowore with the five-count charge of alleged cybercrime.
During the proceedings, the Director of Public Prosecutions from the Ministry of Justice informed the court of their readiness to arraign Sowore, X Corporation, and Meta (Facebook) Inc. as the first, second, and third defendants, respectively.
However, Sowore’s counsel, Marshal Abubakar, told the court that the defence team had not received the charges. Counsel for Meta also supported this position, stating that he had only just been served. The second defendant, X Corporation, was not represented in court.
The case concerns a post allegedly made by Sowore on his official X handle on August 25, which prosecutors claim was offensive and violated Section 24(2)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition and Prevention) Act 2024.
The Department of State Services (DSS) filed the five-count charge against Sowore, who contested the 2023 presidential election under the African Action Congress (AAC). The charges were submitted by Director of Public Prosecutions Muhammed Abubakar and other DSS lawyers on behalf of the Nigerian government.
Earlier, on September 8, the DSS had given Sowore a one-week ultimatum to delete what it described as a “false, malicious, and inciting” post about President Bola Tinubu. The activist, however, refused to comply, and the deadline expired on September 15.
In response, Sowore filed two fundamental rights lawsuits at the High Court against the DSS, Meta, and X Corp. According to his legal team, led by Tope Temokun, the actions seek to challenge what they described as “unconstitutional censorship” of Sowore’s social media accounts.
Temokun emphasised that the lawsuits were crucial for protecting free speech in Nigeria, warning that if state agencies could dictate who speaks and what is said on global platforms, no Nigerian’s voice would be safe from government suppression.
