The Department of State Services has filed cybercrime charges against former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, alongside social media giants X Corp and Meta, over posts critical of President Bola Tinubu.
The case, marked September 16, 2025, was lodged at the Federal High Court in Abuja. It followed Sowore’s refusal to delete a tweet where he called President Tinubu a “criminal.”
According to court papers, the five-count charge was filed on behalf of the DSS and the Federal Government by M.B. Abubakar, Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, together with four other lawyers – M.E. Ernest, U.B. Bulla, Dr. C.S. Eze, and E.G. Orubor.
Confirming the move on Tuesday, Sowore wrote on Facebook, “The State Security Service, alias @OfficialDSSNG today filed a 5-count charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja against ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and myself. They claimed that because I called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu a criminal, I have somehow committed a set of ‘novel’ offences they invented and spread across five counts.”
The African Action Congress candidate in the 2023 election stressed that he would not be intimidated. “It’s hard to believe there’s anyone sensible left in these offices that should be making Nigeria work. Regardless, I will be present whenever this case is assigned for trial. #RevolutionNow,” he added.
Earlier, Sowore had vowed not to delete the controversial tweet despite a formal request from the DSS to X. In another post, he said, “This morning, X (formerly Twitter) officially contacted me about the despicable threat letter they received from the lawless DSS over my Tweet on Tinubu. One option I will NOT be taking is deleting that Tweet. Thank you, @X.”
He also released a notice sent to him by X, confirming that the platform had received a legal request from the DSS.
The message from X read, “Hello @YeleSowore. In the interest of transparency, we are writing to inform you that X has received a request from the Department of State Services regarding your X account, @YeleSowore, that claims the following content violates the law(s) of Nigeria. @YeleSowore, we have not taken any action on the reported content at this time as a result of this request.
“As X strongly believes in defending and respecting the voice of our users, it is our policy to notify our users if we receive a legal request from an authorised entity (such as law enforcement or a government agency) to remove content from their account. We provide notice whether or not the user lives in the country where the request originated.”
X also advised Sowore to seek legal guidance if necessary. “We understand that receiving this type of notice can be an unsettling experience. While X is not able to provide legal advice, we want you to have an opportunity to evaluate the request and, if you wish, take appropriate action to protect your interests,” the message stated.
The DSS has not yet released details of the specific charges, but the development is already stirring heated debate about free speech, online censorship, and political opposition in Nigeria.
