THE Federal Government has filed a five-count criminal charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja against human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, accusing him of using social media to defame President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and spread information capable of disturbing public order.
The charge sheet, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/184/2025, accuses Sowore of publishing false and defamatory statements on his verified X handle and Facebook page on August 25 and 26, 2025. The charges were filed on September 16, 2025, by, Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, M.B. Abubakar alongside counsels M.E. Ernest, U.B. Bulla, C.S. Eze, and E.G. Orubor.
The Nigerian government stated that the posts described the president as a ‘criminal’ and alleged he falsely claimed there was no more corruption in Nigeria.
The government further said the comments were intended to cause a breakdown of law and order and to tarnish the president’s reputation.
It also cited violations of Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024, as well as Sections 375 and 59 of the Criminal Code Act.
Count two reads: “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 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/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.”
Counts three and four allege that Sowore defamed the president in his August 25 X post and August 26 Facebook post, both of which described the president as a ‘criminal’ and accused him of making false claims.
The fifth count charges him with intentionally sharing false information on both platforms on August 26, purportedly to stir public anxiety and tarnish the president’s reputation.
Also named in the suit are X Incorp and Meta Platforms Incorp (Facebook), whose platforms carried the posts.
Backstory
The latest development came just days after Sowore rejected a directive from the State Security Service (SSS) ordering him to delete the same post.
On September 12, Sowore publicly rejected the SSS demand in a letter to the agency’s Director-General, describing the order as “unlawful, insidious, and fundamentally defective.”
He argued that the SSS lacked the power to act as a proxy for the president in a defamation dispute and invoked a 1985 Court of Appeal decision (Arthur Nwankwo v. State) which declared criminal defamation unconstitutional.
Citing Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Sowore vowed to continue his activism: “You have no business telling me how to criticise the president. The determination of the Nigerian people to reclaim their country from thieves in power is unwavering,” he said.
The SSS had earlier petitioned X Corps, demanding the suspension of Sowore’s verified handle, @YeleSowore, over a post it described as “misleading, offensive, and a threat to national security.”
In a letter dated September 6, 2025, the agency claimed Sowore disparaged the president in a post he made on August 25, 2025, part of which read: “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!”
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M