A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the arrest of 2027 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) Omoyele Sowore after he failed to appear in court for the continuation of his cybercrime trial.
The order was issued on Tuesday by Justice Mohammed Umar after Sowore did not show up in court for proceedings in a case filed against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The Human Rights activist was expected to begin presenting his defence against a two-count charge linked to social media posts he made about President Bola Tinubu.
Although Sowore was absent, he sent a letter to the court explaining that he had travelled to Lagos to seek legal representation after his former lawyers withdrew from the case.
He had earlier decided to handle his defence personally following the exit of his legal team.
After listening to an application from the DSS, the court revoked the bail earlier granted to Sowore and issued a warrant for his arrest.
The development comes after Sowore had requested that Justice Umar withdraw from the case.
He asked that the matter be reassigned to another judge, claiming that he no longer had confidence in the court’s ability to hear the case fairly.
According to his application, the activist referred to an incident involving one of his lawyers during an earlier court session.
He also complained about the decision to conduct the trial on a day-to-day basis, arguing that it contributed to the departure of his legal representatives.
Sowore was arraigned on December 2, 2025, before the Federal High Court in Abuja and pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.
The charges were filed under provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.
The case stems from comments he made on social media in August 2025 after President Tinubu reportedly stated during a visit to Brazil that corruption had been eliminated under his administration.
Following the posts, the DSS contacted social media companies X and Meta, seeking the removal of the content and requesting restrictions on Sowore’s accounts.
The agency also directed him to delete the posts from online platforms.
Prosecutors said his refusal to comply with those requests led to the filing of criminal charges.
They alleged that the messages were capable of disturbing public peace and damaging the reputation of the President.
The DSS listed copies of the social media posts and official correspondence sent to Sowore as part of the evidence in the case.
While X and Meta were initially included in the case, both companies were later removed from the amended charge, leaving Sowore as the sole defendant.
The prosecution maintained that the social media posts amounted to cyberstalking and violated provisions of the Cybercrimes Act.
The case is expected to continue after the execution of the court’s arrest warrant.
