The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has demanded an apology from the Department of State Services (DSS) and the withdrawal of the alleged cybercrime case against him.
Sowore made the demand during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, where he accused the secret police of subjecting him to a wrongful trial.
The development followed a directive by the DSS for its counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, to seek an adjournment of the case until after the 2027 presidential election.
Sources familiar with the matter said the move was intended to allow Sowore to participate fully in the electioneering process without the court proceedings interfering with his political activities.
However, Sowore said the DSS should withdraw the case rather than seek a lengthy adjournment.
“We are not seeking an adjournment. We want you [DSS] to apologise for doing this to us and to show that you compensate people who are wrongfully tried for committing no crime at all,” he said.
The AAC candidate also called for disciplinary action against those responsible for the decision to prosecute him.
The DSS instituted the case over social media posts made by Sowore in which he described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal”.
The posts, published on Sowore’s X account and Facebook page on August 25, 2025, prompted the DSS to issue him a seven-day ultimatum to remove them.
After Sowore refused to take down the posts, the DSS approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking a judicial determination of whether it was lawful for an individual to publicly describe the President or another person as a “criminal”.
The agency initially included X, formerly known as Twitter, and Meta, Facebook’s parent company, as defendants. The Federal High Court in Abuja later struck out the two technology companies from the suit, leaving Sowore as the sole defendant.
Reacting to the proposed adjournment, Sowore said the DSS had no right to suspend proceedings it had already initiated.
“You have no right to suspend the trial you have already started. You should go and withdraw your charges,” he said.
Sowore also criticised what he described as excessive interference by security agencies in the judicial process.
He alleged that security agencies were controlling the judiciary, describing the judiciary as “an appendage of the security”.
The activist further recalled his previous legal battles, including his 2019 treason charge, which he said kept him in Nigeria for five years and severely affected his family.
He also recounted an 11-day detention after missing a court hearing, saying he was held in a prison with more than 47 other people.
Sowore said the experience reinforced his view that the issue went beyond his individual case.
“When an injustice of that scale is done to anybody, what you look at and react immediately to is, ‘Why in the first place did you have to do this to anyone, not even me?’” he said.
Chronicle NG reports that Sowore is demanding that the DSS apologise and withdraw the case rather than defer it until after the 2027 election.
