The court has scheduled Sowore’s defence against Tinubu’s alleged cyberbullying for October 2.
Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has been scheduled by the Federal High Court to continue his defence in the Department of State Services’ (DSS) alleged cyberbullying case on October 2.
Last month, there were rumours on social media that the DSS would request a longer adjournment to allow Sowore to focus on his presidential campaign when court hearings resumed following its yearly summer vacation.
Sowore is facing legal action for his August 2025 remarks on Facebook and X (previously Twitter), in which he called President Bola Tinubu a “criminal” and charged him with lying about the extent of corruption in the nation.
Sowore submitted a no-case argument at the end of the prosecution’s case, but the court rejected it and required him to provide his defence.
Prosecuting attorney Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN) informed the court during Monday’s hearing that Sowore will be able to continue his defence on September 28.
Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), the defence attorney, stated that although the defendant was anticipating a subpoenaed witness from the DSS, the defence might not be able to move further without the witness.
Olumide-Fusika recounted that on the most recent postponed date, the defence and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), had come to an agreement that another DSS officer would be dispatched to represent the agency’s Director-General, who had been subpoenaed.
He said that the defence would be forced to request an adjournment because no one from the DSS showed up to represent its Director-General.
The defence attorney stated that since the witness had been subpoenaed and was not present in court, the defence might get a warrant for the witness’s arrest and court appearance.
Olumide-Fusika also submitted a few media articles in which it was stated that the DSS had instructed its attorney to request that the case’s proceedings be halted until after the upcoming general elections.
According to the defence attorney, he anticipated that the prosecution will want a longer delay when the hearings resumed on Monday, as reported by the media.
When the judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, questioned Kehinde about why no DSS official was present in court given the agreement with the AGF, he responded that it was the defense’s duty to make sure its witness was present and that he had no obligation to do so.
Additionally, Kehinde criticised Olumide-Fusika’s choice to base his argument on social media posts. He asked the court to disregard these publications and denied knowing about them.
In order to avoid having to request that the defence be foreclosed, he pleaded with the court to order the defendant to proceed with his defence.
In his decision, Justice Umar stated that the defence would have another chance to present the subpoenaed witness because it was not available.
For the defence to continue, he postponed the case until October 2.