AAC presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has demanded an apology from the Department of State Services (DSS) and the withdrawal of the alleged cybercrime charge against him.
Sowore made the demand on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, where he accused the secret police of wrongfully prosecuting him.
The DSS recently directed its counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), to seek an adjournment of the case until after the 2027 presidential election.
Sources said the move would allow Sowore to participate fully in the election campaign without the court case disrupting his political activities.
Sowore rejected the proposed adjournment and urged the DSS to withdraw the charge instead.
“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.
He also called for disciplinary action against officials responsible for decisions that led to what he described as an unjust prosecution.
The DSS filed the case over social media posts in which Sowore described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal”.
Sowore published the posts on his X account and Facebook page on August 25, 2025. The DSS subsequently gave him seven days to remove the posts.
After he refused, the agency approached the Federal High Court to determine whether it was lawful for an individual to publicly describe the President or any other person as a “criminal”.
The DSS initially included X, formerly Twitter, and Meta, Facebook’s parent company, as defendants in the suit.
The Federal High Court in Abuja later struck out the two technology companies from the case, leaving Sowore as the sole defendant.
Sowore, however, said the DSS had no right to suspend a trial after initiating the proceedings.
“This is not the country that we fought for democracy for—a country where somebody can just wake up because he’s the DG of DSS, go arrest somebody, detain them permanently or disrupt their lives, and then realise that you want to suspend [the case],” he said.
“You have no right to suspend the trial you have already started. You should go and withdraw your charges. That’s the only way out.”
Sowore also accused security agencies of exerting undue influence over the judiciary.
He recalled his previous detention and prosecution, saying he was taken to prison for 11 days after missing a court hearing and was held with more than 47 other inmates.
The AAC candidate also linked the current case to his previous legal battles with the Nigerian government.
He said authorities charged him with treason in 2019 and kept him in Nigeria for five years, claiming the experience severely affected his family.
“We’ve been here before. I was charged with treason in 2019 and kept in Nigeria for five years,” Sowore said.
“They did everything they could. Within that period, you know, my family was almost completely ruined.”
