A Federal High Court in Abuja has warned politician and online publisher Omoyele Sowore that his bail could be revoked if he fails to appear at the next hearing of his ongoing cybercrime trial.
The presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, issued the warning on Thursday after Sowore and his legal team failed to appear in court for the scheduled proceedings.
Justice Umar said the court could also issue a bench warrant for Sowore’s arrest should he fail to attend the next hearing.
The warning followed an application by prosecuting counsel Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), who told the court that the defendant was duly served with a hearing notice through his lawyers but chose not to attend the session.
Sowore is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) over allegations that he made false claims about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in posts on his social media accounts on X and Facebook, where he allegedly referred to the president as a criminal.
At Thursday’s proceedings, neither Sowore nor any member of his legal team—reportedly numbering about 30—was present in court.
Kehinde informed the court that the matter was scheduled for the defence to conclude its cross-examination of the first prosecution witness. He added that records from the court registry confirmed that hearing notices were served on both the prosecution and the defence.
Citing provisions of Section 352(1) and (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, the prosecution urged the court to revoke the defendant’s bail and issue a bench warrant for his immediate arrest.
However, in his ruling, Justice Umar acknowledged that Sowore had consistently attended court sessions since the trial began late last year. He also noted that previous adjournments had been requested by both the prosecution and the defence.
The judge therefore decided to give the defendant the benefit of the doubt, describing the absence as the first since the trial commenced.
He warned, however, that if Sowore fails to appear at the next hearing, the court would not hesitate to grant the prosecution’s request for the revocation of his bail and the issuance of an arrest warrant.
The case was subsequently adjourned to March 16 for continuation of trial, with the court directing that another hearing notice be served on the defence.
