The Federal High Court in Abuja has postponed the scheduled arraignment of Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, to November 5, 2025, following the absence of the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Umar.
The case, which was fixed for Monday for Sowore and his co-defendants to take their pleas, could not proceed as the trial judge was reportedly attending to matters in another division of the court.
As a result, the court adjourned the proceedings to November 5 for continuation.
Sowore is standing trial alongside X Inc. (formerly Twitter) and Meta (Facebook) Inc., who are listed as the 1st to 3rd defendants in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025.
The judge had earlier fixed the date on September 30 to enable Sowore ample time to prepare his defence.
The human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 general elections is facing a five-count charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) on behalf of the Federal Government.
According to the prosecution, Sowore allegedly used his verified X handle (@YeleSowore) and Facebook page to post messages in which he purportedly referred to President Bola Tinubu as “a criminal.”
One of the charges reads:
“That you, Omoyele Sowore, on or about August 25, did use your official X handle page, @YeleSowore, to send out a message/tweet: ‘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!’”
The case will now come up on November 5 for the defendants’ arraignment and further hearing.