The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday rejected documents the defence sought to tender in the ongoing cybercrime trial of activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore.
Justice Mohammed Umar ruled that the materials could not be admitted through the prosecution’s first witness, who told the court he had no knowledge of their contents.
Sowore is standing trial on two amended counts of cybercrime for allegedly describing President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal” in a social media post on Aug. 25, 2025. The post followed Tinubu’s statement during a visit to Brazil that corruption in Nigeria had ended under his administration.
During cross-examination, defence counsel Marshal Abubakar attempted to tender online publications reporting alleged corruption within public institutions. The reports included claims that the Department of State Services dismissed 115 officers for corruption in 2025, while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission dismissed 27 staff for fraud and misconduct, prosecuted five governors and arrested officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation over an alleged N7.2 billion fraud.
Abubakar argued that the documents were relevant because they showed corruption was still prevalent in Nigeria and that even anti-graft agencies continued to battle internal misconduct.
The defence also sought to tender documents allegedly containing statements made by Tinubu in 2011, in which he reportedly criticised former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo. Abubakar said the statements were relevant to demonstrate inconsistencies in Tinubu’s past and present positions on corruption.
Prosecution counsel Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN) objected, arguing that the documents were irrelevant to the cyberstalking charges against Sowore and did not comply with Section 84 of the Evidence Act. He also said the witness neither produced the documents nor had personal knowledge of them.
Justice Umar upheld the objections and rejected the documents.
During testimony, the DSS witness said he was unaware of Nigeria’s ranking on global corruption indices and denied knowledge of social media posts by political figures, including Femi Fani-Kayode and Reno Omokri, accusing Tinubu of corruption, drug trafficking and involvement in the death of former Lagos governorship candidate Funsho Williams.
At the close of proceedings, Abubakar requested an adjournment to continue cross-examining the witness. The court adjourned the case until March 5, 2026.
