The presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, on Monday arrived at the Federal High Court in Abuja for his trial after a bench warrant for his arrest.
Sowore arrived at the court in the company of members of his group with placards.
Justice Mohammed Umar had, on June 16, revoked a bail granted to him following his failure to appear in court for his trial.
Justice Mohammed Umar, the trial judge, revoked Sowore’s bail on Tuesday and issued an arrest warrant following the activist’s absence from court.
During the proceedings, he and his lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, were not in court.
Kehinde Akinlolu, counsel to the Department of State Services (DSS), told the court that Sowore was absent despite being aware of the hearing.
Akinlolu asked the court to revoke Sowore’s bail over allegations that he was employing tactics to delay the trial and for his absence from court.
In his ruling, Umar said Sowore had written a letter to the court requesting an adjournment, but the letter did not provide any reason for the request.
The trial judge revoked Sowore’s bail and adjourned the matter until June 22 for hearing.
Sowore is standing trial on a two-count charge filed against him by the DSS.
The charge stems from Sowore’s August 2025 post on X, in which he described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal” while reacting to the president’s remarks on corruption during a trip to Brazil.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
After the DSS presented its case, Sowore filed a no-case submission.
In May, the trial judge dismissed the no-case submission and held that the DSS had established a prima facie case against Sowore, warranting him to enter his defense against the allegations.
Following the dismissal of the no-case submission, Sowore openly accused the judge of bias during court proceedings.
He alleged that the judge was conniving with the federal government to secure his conviction in a bid to prevent him from contesting the 2027 presidential election.
Umar ordered Sowore to file a formal application seeking his recusal.
Sowore, through his counsel, subsequently filed an application to the Chief Judge requesting that the case be reassigned to another judge.
On June 4, the trial judge ordered Sowore to open his defense.
