Sowore Demands DSS Apology, Withdrawal of Alleged Cybercrime Case Ahead of 2027 Election

AAC presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has demanded an apology from the Department of State Services (DSS) and called for the withdrawal of the alleged cybercrime case against him, describing the proceedings as an injustice.

Sowore made the demand during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, after the DSS directed its lawyer to seek an adjournment of the case until after the 2027 presidential election.

The activist argued that the agency should not be allowed to pause a trial it initiated, insisting that the appropriate action would be to withdraw the charges and compensate anyone who was wrongfully prosecuted.

“We were already in court, and when we were in court, we made the same application several times. This is election season—presidential time—they said, ‘We recognise that, but we must try to finish the trial before the elections or during elections; we don’t care,’” Sowore said.

The case stems from social media posts made by Sowore on August 25, 2025, in which he described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal”. The DSS subsequently gave him seven days to remove the posts before approaching the Federal High Court for a ruling on whether such a public description of the President or another person was lawful.

The DSS initially included X, formerly Twitter, and Meta, Facebook’s parent company, in the suit. The Federal High Court in Abuja later struck out the two technology companies, leaving Sowore as the only defendant in the case.

The agency’s latest move to seek an adjournment until after the 2027 election has been presented as an attempt to prevent the proceedings from interfering with Sowore’s participation in the election campaign. Sowore, however, rejected the proposal and accused the security agency of abusing its powers.

“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.

Sowore also recalled his previous legal battles with the Nigerian authorities, including his 2019 treason charge, saying the prolonged proceedings had severely affected his family. He argued that the latest case should be withdrawn rather than suspended, while calling for accountability over the decisions that led to his prosecution.