Publisher and activist Omoyele Sowore did not open his defence Tuesday in an ongoing cyberbullying trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja, as his legal team pursued a request for the trial judge to recuse himself.
Sowore is charged with allegedly publishing false claims against President Bola Tinubu on X and Facebook, including referring to him as “a criminal.”
On May 8, Justice Mohammed Umar dismissed Sowore’s no-case submission, ruling that the prosecution had established a prima facie case requiring the defendant to answer the charges. The court also dismissed a separate fundamental rights suit filed by Sowore and fined him ₦1.5 million in costs to the Department of State Services and others.
Immediately after the ruling, Sowore and his lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, made an oral application for Justice Umar to withdraw from the case, citing alleged bias. The judge ordered the defence to file a formal application to allow the prosecution to respond.
When the matter resumed Tuesday, Abubakar said Sowore and his lawyer had filed separate letters and affidavits to the court’s Chief Judge seeking reassignment of the case. He asked the court to adjourn proceedings pending the Chief Judge’s decision.
Prosecuting counsel Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN) objected, arguing the defence had ignored the court’s directive to file a formal recusal application directly to Justice Umar. “All the processes that they have filed are of no moment. This was not the directive of the court,” Kehinde said.
He urged the court not to allow the defence to control the pace of proceedings, saying the case had reached the stage where Sowore should either enter his defence or state that he would not.
Abubakar maintained the defence had acted properly and asked the court not to be “railroaded into taking steps that are alien to the administration of justice.”
Justice Umar ordered the prosecution to file a response to the defence’s May 19 letters and adjourned the case to June 4 for a ruling on the recusal petition.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
