Nigerian Government Files Criminal Charges Against Sowore Over Social Media Posts

The Nigerian government has filed criminal charges against activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore for describing President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal” on social media. The case was brought to the Federal High Court in Abuja by the Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday, September 16, 2025 .

Sowore is accused of five counts of cybercrime and defamation. The charges relate to posts he made on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook in late August 2025. In the posts, he criticised President Tinubu for claiming during a visit to Brazil that his administration had eliminated corruption in Nigeria .

Also named as defendants in the case are X Corp, which owns X, and Meta Platforms Inc, which owns Facebook. The DSS had previously written to these companies demanding they remove Sowore’s posts and suspend his accounts. The companies had not complied with these requests before the charges were filed .

The government claims Sowore’s posts were false and intended to cause a breakdown of law and order in Nigeria. The charges cite violations of the Cybercrimes Act and sections of the Criminal Code relating to defamation and spreading false information .

Sowore has publicly refused to delete the posts, stating that his criticism of the government is protected under constitutional rights to free speech. He has vowed to contest the charges in court .

No date has yet been set for the arraignment of the defendants. The case has drawn attention to issues of free speech and government efforts to regulate social media content in Nigeria .