By Muhammad Mamman
The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a five-count criminal charge against Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), over social media posts it described as false and inciting against President Bola Tinubu.
The DSS also listed X Corp and Meta Platforms, owners of X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, as co-defendants before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Last week, the secret police gave Sowore a one-week ultimatum to delete the posts, which he ignored. Both X and Meta also declined a request from the DSS to take down his accounts.
The charges, filed by the Federal Ministry of Justice on behalf of the Nigerian government, accuse Sowore of publishing defamatory and false content with intent to incite public disorder and tarnish the reputation of the President.
Among the allegations, prosecutors cite a post in which Sowore referred to President Tinubu as a “criminal” and accused him of making false claims about corruption while on a visit to Brazil.
The DSS insists the comments breach provisions of the Cybercrimes Act and the Criminal Code.
