CYBERBULLYING: SOWORE’S ATTEMPT TO SUBMIT TINUBU’S ANTI-JONATHAN COMMENT FAILS
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By: Balogun Ibrahim
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday declined to admit documents presented by the defence in the ongoing cyberbullying trial of activist and publisher, Omoyele Sowore.
The rejected documents contained statements allegedly made by President Bola Tinubu against former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo, which Sowore’s legal team sought to tender as evidence.
In his ruling, Justice Mohammed Umar held that the documents could not be properly admitted through the prosecution’s first witness, who told the court he had no knowledge of their contents.
Sowore is facing trial on two amended counts of cybercrime over a social media post made on August 25, 2025, in which he described President Tinubu as a “criminal.” The post followed comments by the President during a visit to Brazil, where he claimed that corruption in Nigeria had ended under his administration.
During cross-examination, defence counsel, Marshal Abubakar, sought to tender online reports detailing alleged corruption within public institutions, including cases of dismissals and prosecutions by the Department of State Services and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Abubakar told the court that in 2025, the DSS dismissed 115 officers over corruption-related offences, while the EFCC dismissed 27 staff members for fraud and misconduct. He added that the anti-graft agency also prosecuted five former governors and arrested officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation over an alleged N7.2 billion fraud.
Abubakar argued that the documents were relevant to the defence, as they demonstrated that corruption remained prevalent in Nigeria and that even anti-graft agencies continued to grapple with corrupt practices.
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The defence also attempted to tender documents said to contain statements made by President Bola Tinubu in 2011, in which he allegedly described former President Goodluck Jonathan as a “drunkard and sinking fisherman” and his administration as “corrupt and shameless,” while referring to former President Olusegun Obasanjo as “expired meat.” Defence counsel, Marshal Abubakar, argued that the statements were relevant to the case, as they underscored inconsistencies in Tinubu’s past criticisms of corruption.
However, prosecution counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), objected to the admissibility of both sets of documents, maintaining that they were irrelevant to the cyberstalking charges against Omoyele Sowore and did not comply with the requirements of Section 84 of the Evidence Act. Kehinde further argued that the witness through whom the documents were sought to be tendered neither produced them nor had knowledge of their contents, and urged the court to reject them.
Justice Mohammed Umar upheld the prosecution’s objections, ruling that the documents including those containing Tinubu’s alleged remarks against Jonathan and Obasanjo were inadmissible.
During testimony, the Department of State Services witness told the court that he was unaware of Nigeria’s position on global corruption indices and denied knowledge of social media posts by political figures, including Femi Fani-Kayode and Reno Omokri, which accused President Tinubu of corruption, drug trafficking, and involvement in the death of former Lagos governorship candidate, Funsho Williams.
At the conclusion of proceedings, Abubakar applied for an adjournment to continue cross-examination of the witness. Justice Umar adjourned the matter until March 5, 2026, for continuation of cross-examination.
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