A legal battle involving activist Omoyele Sowore and President Bola Tinubu took a fresh turn in Abuja on Thursday after the Federal High Court ordered him to begin presenting his defence in an alleged criminal defamation case linked to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Justice Mohammed Umar rejected a request by Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, seeking to delay proceedings until after the court’s upcoming vacation.
The judge instead directed that hearing in the matter should continue on a daily basis starting from Friday, June 5, when Sowore is expected to formally open his defence.
Sowore, who was the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) over allegations that he falsely described Tinubu as “a criminal” in posts published on his X and Facebook accounts.
At Thursday’s proceedings, prosecuting counsel Akinlolu Kehinde informed the court that the case was scheduled to receive the response of the Chief Judge to Sowore’s earlier request seeking reassignment of the case to another judge.
According to Kehinde, the Chief Judge declined the request in a response dated May 22 and directed the court to continue hearing the matter.
He subsequently asked the court to compel the defendant to enter his defence.
However, Abubakar argued that part of the Chief Judge’s response allowed the defence to file a formal application regarding the issue in open court.
He also appealed for an adjournment until after the court vacation, citing Sowore’s planned political engagements ahead of the next presidential election cycle.
The prosecution opposed the request, insisting that the matter before the court was a criminal trial unrelated to politics.
“The letter from the Chief Judge of this court did not ask the defendant or his counsel to file an application for recusal,” Kehinde argued.
Following arguments from both sides, Justice Umar reviewed the Chief Judge’s letter in open court and ruled that the defence had misinterpreted its contents.
“From the content of the letter, there is nowhere the defendant is asked to file an application before this court,” the judge said.
He maintained that the current phase of the proceedings only required the defendant to present his defence and noted that any application could still be filed before judgment if necessary.
Justice Umar then ordered Sowore to proceed with his defence and directed that hearing continue daily in line with provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).
The court subsequently adjourned the matter until June 5 for the continuation of proceedings.
