Omoyele Sowore, the pro‑democracy activist and former presidential candidate, has filed two fundamental rights actions at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The suits are aimed at preventing Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) from removing his posts referring to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a criminal.
His attorney, Tope Temokun, initiated the cases yesterday in response to legal action taken by the Department of State Services (DSS) on the same day.
The DSS lawsuit, filed on 16 September 2025, charges Sowore and the social media platforms (Meta and X) in a five‑count complaint for refusing to delete certain posts about the President.
The charges were brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, M.B. Abubakar, together with four other DSS legal counsels.
In the fundamental rights actions, Sowore argues that the DSS is enforcing unconstitutional censorship through demands for deletion of his posts.
He claims this threatens free speech in Nigeria and endangers the rights of all citizens.
The DSS complaint alleges the following:
- In Count one, that Sowore, via his X account (@YeleSowore), posted on 25 August a message accusing President Tinubu of corruption (“…this criminal @officialPBAT…”) — an allegation the DSS says violates Section 24(2)(b) of the Cybercrimes Prohibition and Prevention Act, 2024.
- In Count Two, that on 26 August, Sowore shared a similar message on his Facebook page, purportedly aimed at inciting lawlessness among those with dissenting views.
- In Count Three, the charge asserts that Sowore used his X handle to publish “defamatory material” online, contrary to Section 375 of the Criminal Code.
Sowore has publicly decried the charges, posting:
“The State Security Service filed a five‑count charge against X Facebook and myself. They claimed that because I called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu a criminal, I have committed a set of ‘novel’ offences they invented”
He has vowed to appear when his case is called for trial, framing the dispute as a fundamental test of free speech and constitutional rights.
