DSS to arraign Sowore, X, Facebook over alleged false claim against Tinubu
By: Zagazola Makama
The Department of State Services (DSS) will on Tuesday arraign politician and online publisher, Omoyele Sowore, alongside social media companies, X Inc. (formerly Twitter) and Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook), before a Federal High Court in Abuja over alleged false claims against President Bola Tinubu.
The arraignment, scheduled to hold before Justice Mohammed Umar, follows a five-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025 filed on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) by the DSS.
Zagazola gathered that the charges stemmed from posts made by Sowore on his official X handle, @YeleSowore, and Facebook page in August, in which he allegedly referred to President Tinubu as “a criminal” and accused him of lying about corruption in Nigeria.
The DSS, in the charge filed on Sept. 16, said the posts contravened provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024, and the Criminal Code Act.
The secret police also disclosed that, before the charge was filed, it had written to X and Facebook requesting the removal of the alleged offending posts.
According to the charge, Sowore is accused of publishing false information likely to cause public disorder and of defaming the personality and reputation of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Bola Tinubu.
One of the counts read: “That you, Omoyele Sowore, on or about the 25th day of August, 2025, did use your official X handle page, @Yele Sowore, to send out a message: ‘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 to be false but posted for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order in the country… contrary to Section 24 (1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.”
Another count accused him of using Facebook on Aug. 26, 2025, to publish the same message, allegedly with intent to cause public fear and disturbance, contrary to Section 59 of the Criminal Code Act.
Sowore, who contested the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections on the platform of the African Action Congress (AAC), is further charged with knowingly publishing defamatory material against the President, contrary to Section 375 of the Criminal Code Act.
The charge also listed X and Facebook as co-defendants for allegedly providing the platforms used to disseminate the contested posts.
Zagazola reports that Sowore and the two tech companies are expected to enter their pleas when the matter is called on Tuesday.
