The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the no-case submission filed by activist Omoyele Sowore in the cyberbullying charges instituted against him by the State Security Services (SSS).
Justice Mohammed Umar in a brief ruling held that the prosecution had established a prima facie case linking Sowore to the allegations bordering on cyberbullying President Bola Ahmed Tinubu through comments made on his X handle, where he allegedly described the President as a “criminal.”
Sowore had urged the court to discharge and acquit him, arguing in his no-case submission that the prosecution failed to establish any offence against him.
After the ruling, Sowore accused the judge of bias in open court, insisting he could no longer obtain justice before him.
He requested that Justice Umar withdraw from the case and allow another judge to continue with the trial.
The activist further alleged that the court was acting in concert with the Federal Government to secure his conviction and frustrate any possible participation in the 2027 general elections.
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His counsel, Marshall Abubakar, also backed the recusal request and asked that the matter be returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge.
Counsel for the SSS, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, opposed the oral application, urging the court to disregard it and insist that only the defence counsel should address the court on such issues.
In a short ruling, Justice Umar directed Sowore to file a formal application for recusal, clearly stating the grounds for his request.
The matter was subsequently adjourned until May 19 for Sowore to open his defence and for hearing of the recusal application.
Sowore is being prosecuted for referring to the president as “criminal” in his posts via his X and Facebook handles.
He was originally charged alongside the parent companies of X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook in December 5, 2025, but an amendment to the charges saw X Incorp and Meta (Facebook) Incorp dropped from the case as defendants, leaving Sowore as the sole defendant.
The amendment also pruned down the number of counts from five to two, which he pleaded not guilty to after being rearraigned.
Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie
