The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a five-count charge against Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), over alleged false and defamatory posts about President Bola Tinubu.
The suit, lodged before the Federal High Court in Abuja, also lists X Corp and Meta Inc., owners of X and Facebook, as defendants.
Muhammed Abubakar, a Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, alongside other lawyers representing the DSS, filed the charges on behalf of the agency and the Nigerian government.
Earlier on September 8, the DSS had given Sowore a one-week ultimatum to delete what it described as “false, malicious, and inciting” social media posts targeting the president. The ultimatum expired on Monday without compliance.
The security agency also claimed that both X Corp and Meta ignored requests to delete Sowore’s accounts.
One of the charges 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 @YeleSowore to send out a message as: ‘THIS CRIMINAL @OFFICIALPBAT 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…”
Sowore was further accused of repeating the same post on Facebook, contrary to Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.
Other counts allege that the activist knowingly published defamatory material against the president on both X and Facebook, in violation of Section 375 of the Criminal Code Act, and that he spread false information capable of causing public fear and disturbance, contrary to Section 59 of the same Act.
The case is expected to come up for hearing in Abuja in the coming days.
