Rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, on Thursday begged the Federal High Court to adjourn his ongoing trial for alleged cyberbullying due to his presidential campaign activities.
Mr Sowore, who is the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), told Justice Mohammed Umar in a letter he wrote to the court.
When the case was called, the prosecuting lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, observed that the defendant was absent in court.
Responding, the defence lawyer, T. O. Etonyeaku, who said she was holding the brief of Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, told the court that Mr Sowore travelled to Ekiti State for his presidential campaign activities.
Mr Etonyeaku, therefore, prayed the court for a stand-down to enable another senior lawyer, who was earlier in court before the commencement of proceedings, to arrive and conduct the case of the defence.
Mr Umar then drew both lawyers’ attention to a letter written to the court personally by the defendant and asked Mr Kehinde if he was aware of the letter.
Mr Kehinde denied being copied in the letter and argued that it was wrong for an accused person, who was being represented by a lawyer, to bypass the counsel and write directly to the court and also fail to copy the other party.
He added that since there was no evidence that Mr Sowore had discontinued the service of his lawyer, Mr Olumide-Fusika, he ought not to have written personally to the court.
The development stalled the trial as Mr Kehinde conceded to an adjournment in the interest of justice
The prosecuting lawyer observed that the defence had yet to respond to the written address he filed, as ordered by the court, on the issue of whether or not he could be subpoenaed to testify as a defence witness.
Mr Umar subsequently adjourned the matter until November 3 for adoption and continuation of defence.
Mr Sowore is being prosecuted by the State Security Service (SSS) over his August 2025 published posts on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
He was alleged to have described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal” and accused him of lying about the level of corruption in the country.
(NAN)
