Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist and former presidential candidate, has declared he will not take down a post on X (formerly Twitter) in which he criticised President Bola Tinubu despite a formal request by Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) to the social media platform demanding its removal.
On Sunday, Sowore disclosed via his X account that the platform had notified him of the DSS’s complaint.
The controversial post, shared on August 25, referred to President Tinubu as a “criminal” and accused him of lying during a state visit to Brazil, where the president claimed that corruption no longer exists in Nigeria.
Sowore wrote:
“This morning, X (formerly Twitter) officially contacted me about the despicable threat letter they received from the lawless DSS over my tweet on Tinubu. One option I will NOT be taking is deleting that tweet. Thank you, @X.”
He also shared a message from X, which confirmed that it had received a takedown request from the DSS on the grounds that the tweet allegedly violated Nigerian laws.
However, X stated it had not taken any action and would notify the user in line with its transparency policy.
The message from X included a link to its legal and transparency policies, encouraging Sowore to evaluate the situation and consider legal counsel if necessary.
The DSS had earlier claimed the tweet posed a threat to national security and could incite unrest.
It cited provisions of the Criminal Code, the Cyber Crimes Act 2025, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 as legal grounds for its request to delete the post.
Sowore, known for his pro-democracy activism and as the publisher of Sahara Reporters, has long been a vocal critic of the Nigerian government.
He previously faced arrest and prolonged detention by the DSS in 2019 over his “RevolutionNow” movement.
