DSS Files Criminal Charges Against Sowore Over President Tinubu Is ‘A Criminal’ Post

A criminal charge has been filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) against human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The DSS in the suit named X Corp. (owners of the social media platform X) and Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook as first and second defendants.

Sowore was charged with five counts of false publications and defamation.

He was accused of defaming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by calling him a “criminal.”

According to court documents, the DSS listed its exhibits as: a printout of the defendant’s tweet, a printout of the defendant’s Facebook post, a letter to X, a letter to Facebook, and the defendant’s subsequent posts regarding those letters.

The prosecution also indicated that additional evidence may be presented during trial.

Count one 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 page, @Yele Sowore, to send out a message/ tweet as: ‘THIS CRIMINAL @ OFFICIAL PBAT 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 in the country, especially among individuals who hold divergent views on the personality of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 24 (1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.”

Count two reads: “That you, Omoyele Sowore, adult male on or about the 26th day of August, 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did use your official Facebook page, Omoyele Sowore, to send out a message/ post as: ‘THIS CRIMINAL @ OFFICIAL PBAT 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/post to be false but posted it for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order in the country, especially among individuals who hold divergent views on the personality of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 24 (1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.”

Sowore was accused in count three of defaming President Tinubu in an August 25, 2025 post on his official X (Twitter) account, where he called the President a “criminal” and accused him of lying about ending corruption in Nigeria.

Count four is a similar accusation related to Sowore’s August 26, 2025, post on his official Facebook page, repeating the same statement against the President.

In Count five, Sowore is accused of deliberately publishing false information on both X and Facebook on August 26, 2025, allegedly intended to cause public fear and disturbance, targeting the reputation of President Tinubu.

Background
Sowore, publisher of SaharaReporters and a long-standing critic of successive Nigerian governments, has faced multiple arrests, detentions, and court battles over the years, particularly relating to his activism and public criticism of political leaders.

CityMirrorNews reports that Sowore had insisted that he would not delete the post after he officially received a letter from the DSS asking him to take down the post.