The Federal Government, at the instance of the Department of State Services, on Tuesday, filed criminal charges against activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, 8, over a social media post in which he described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal.”
But Sowore, who sneered at the charges, replied by also suing the DSS before the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging what he described as unconstitutional censorship of his social media accounts.
In its charges marked FHC/ABJ/CR/481/2025, the Federal Government alleged that Sowore, using his verified X handle, @YeleSowore, wrote: “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!”
In the five counts filed on Tuesday before the Federal High Court in Abuja by the Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, M. B. Abubakar, the Federal Government also listed X (formerly Twitter) and Meta (owners of Facebook) as co-defendants alongside Sowore.
The Federal Government said Sowore’s post, made on August 25, contravened Section 24(2)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024.
The case stemmed from Sowore’s posts during Tinubu’s visit to Brazil, where the President claimed his administration had eliminated corruption.
The DSS subsequently wrote to Sowore demanding he delete the “false, malicious, and inciting” messages, warning that failure to comply would attract legal action “to protect national security and public order.”
