ABUJA, Sept 16 (The African Portal) – The Nigerian government has filed charges against Omoyele Sowore, an activist and former presidential candidate, after he described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal” in a social media post.
The five-count charge, filed on Tuesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, alleges that Sowore’s comments amounted to cybercrime and criminal defamation. Prosecutors say the remarks, made on 25 August, were intended to incite unrest and damage the president’s reputation.
The charges were brought under Nigeria’s Cybercrimes Act and Criminal Code. Two social media companies, X (formerly Twitter) and Meta (the parent company of Facebook), were also listed as co-defendants for hosting the post.
Sowore’s message came after President Tinubu, during an official visit to Brazil, declared that his administration had successfully ended corruption in Nigeria. In response, the Department of State Services (DSS) asked the platforms to take down the post and restrict Sowore’s account. The activist was also asked to delete the content himself, but he refused.
The government argues that the post was capable of causing a breakdown of law and order. Evidence it intends to rely on includes screenshots of the posts and correspondence between the DSS and the two social media platforms.
Sowore, who ran against Mr Tinubu in the 2019 presidential election, has frequently clashed with Nigerian authorities. In 2019, he was arrested and detained for months after calling for nationwide protests against the government.
