A Federal High Court in Abuja has run out of patience with Omoyele Sowore, the firebrand 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, issuing a stark final warning: show up or shut up.
At Thursday’s hearing, Justice Mohammed Umar dropped the hammer, declaring that Sowore’s defence will be foreclosed if he or his legal team fails to move forward on the next date. The judge’s frustration boiled over after Sowore’s lead counsel, Olumide Fusika, was once again a no-show still abroad for a “family matter,” according to stand-in lawyer Marshall Abubakar.
But the DSS counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde, wasn’t buying it. He slammed the defence for serial delays, reminding the court that an accelerated hearing order had already been flouted. Justice Umar agreed, noting the court had bent over backwards long enough.
The judge granted one last adjournment July 22—and made it crystal clear: no more excuses, or the defence gets shut down.
Sowore is in the dock for branding President Bola Tinubu a “criminal” in scathing posts on Facebook and X. The DSS had initially roped in Meta Platforms as a co-defendant, but later dropped the tech giant, leaving Sowore to face the music solo.
