BREAKING: DSS Files Criminal Charges Against Sowore At Abuja Federal High Court For Calling President Tinubu ‘A Criminal’

The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed criminal charges against human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Also named as the 1st and 2nd defendants in the suit are X Corp. (owners of the social media platform X) and Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook.

Court documents obtained by SaharaReporters on Tuesday show that the DSS filed a five-count charge at the registry of the Federal High Court, accusing Sowore of defaming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by calling him a “criminal.” The charges, however, have not yet been assigned to any judge.

The charges, however, have not yet been assigned to any judge.

Also, no date has been fixed for Sowore’s arraignment.

The charges were filed on September 16, 2025, by M.B. Abubakar, Esq., Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMOJ), together with other counsel listed as M.E. Ernest, Esq., U.B. Bulla, Esq., C.S. Eze, and E.G. Orubor, Esq.

According to court documents, the DSS listed its exhibits as: a printout of the defendant’s tweet, a printout of the defendant’s Facebook post, a letter to X, a letter to Facebook, and the defendant’s subsequent posts regarding those letters.

The prosecution also indicated that additional evidence may be presented during trial.

Count one reads: “That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult, male on or about the 25th day of August, 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did use your official X Handle page, @Yele Sowore, to send out a message/ tweet 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 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.”

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.”

In Count three, Sowore is accused of defaming President Tinubu in an August 25, 2025 post on his official X (Twitter) account, where he called the President a “criminal” and accused him of lying about ending corruption in Nigeria.

Count four is a similar accusation related to Sowore's August 26, 2025, post on his official Facebook page, repeating the same statement against the President.

In Count five, Sowore is accused of deliberately publishing false information on both X and Facebook on August 26, 2025, allegedly intended to cause public fear and disturbance, targeting the reputation of President Tinubu.

Background

Sowore, publisher of SaharaReporters and a long-standing critic of successive Nigerian governments, has faced multiple arrests, detentions, and court battles over the years, particularly relating to his activism and public criticism of political leaders.

The latest charges follow his recent public statements in which he described Tinubu as a criminal during the President’s recent visit to Brazil, where he stated that his government had eliminated corruption.

Last Friday, SaharaReporters reported that the DSS had formally written to Sowore, demanding the deletion of the social media posts in which he referred to President Tinubu as a “criminal,” citing the post as “false, malicious, and inciting”.

The agency warned that failure to comply would result in legal action to “protect national security and public order”.

But Sowore didn’t budge. In a public response, he declared that no amount of pressure would compel him to retract his statement.

He stated that his criticism of the government is part of his constitutional duty to hold leaders accountable.

“You have no business telling me how to criticise the President. But, knowing the nature of your service, it is clear you have not learnt your lessons. Let me state it clearly once again: the determination of the Nigerian people to reclaim their country from thieves in power is unwavering. And it shall be achieved,” he said.

Earlier, the agency petitioned Meta Platforms Inc.—owners of Facebook—and X (formerly Twitter), urging them to delete Sowore’s posts and deactivate his verified accounts.

The DSS accused Sowore of spreading “misleading information” and “inciting violence,” referencing August 26 posts, where Sowore criticised Tinubu’s remarks in Brazil about corruption.

Meta has not publicly responded to the petition, but X confirmed receipt of the DSS’s request.

X notified Sowore of the government’s attempt to censor his post. Sowore responded with characteristic resolve: “One option I will NOT be taking is deleting that Tweet. Thank you, @X.”

The presidency also weighed in, with Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga privately messaging Sowore to suggest he had “misfired” in interpreting Tinubu’s statement.

Onanuga urged him to delete the post, claiming the president was only referring to foreign exchange reforms and not corruption as a whole.

However, Sowore accused Onanuga of complicity in the harassment of critics and rejected any attempt to dictate how citizens interpret public statements.