Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court Abuja, has granted a N200 million bail to the the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore and two sureties in likes sum.
In a ruling on a fresh application for the bail of Sowore, who is also the publisher of Sahara Reporters, an online media platform on Tuesday, Justice Umar ordered that, Sowore must provide two sureties and that, one of the surety, must be a traditional ruler from his community and the other, must have a landed property in Abuja.
The sureties, the court held, must also be verified by the Department of State Services (DSS) prosecuting Sowore on behalf of the federal government.
The judge also ordered Sowore to deposit his international passport with the deputy Chief Registrar of the court, handed over Sowore to his lawyers and adjourned the case till Monday, July 6th l for Sowore to open his defence.
The DSS is prosecuting Sowore, who is the publisher of Sahara Reporters, an online media platform for alleged criminal defamation over claims that he referred to President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal” in posts made on his official X and Facebook accounts.
It would be recalled that Justice Umar had, on June 22 ordered Sowore’s detention at the Kuje Correctional Center in Abuja following the revocation of his (Sowore) bail and the bench warrant for his arrest pending the hearing and determination of his motion for stay of the order for revocation of his bail and bench warrant.
Sowore’s motion for stay of the order revoking his bail was filed by his new lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN.
Justice Umar also dismissed Sowore’s earlier application seeking the judge’s recusal from the case on the ground of alleged bias and then adjourned.
the matter till June 24 for hearing of the application for stay.
The court had, on June 16, revoked a bail granted to Sowore following his failure to appear in court for his trial.
The trial judge, in a ruling on an oral application made by the lawyer to the DSS, Akinkolu Kehinde, SAN, also issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
Sowore had filed a no case submission praying the court to discharge and acquit him from the two-count charge preferred against him by the federal government but, the trial judge held in a ruling that the federal government had successfully linked Sowore with the alleged offences and prima facie case established against him to warrant his defense in the allegations against him.
Shortly after the ruling, Sowore openly accused the Judge of bias adding that he would not get justice in the court and subsequently asked the Judge to hands off from his trial to allow another judge to conduct the trial.
He alleged that the judge was playing along with the federal government to convict him at all costs so as to prevent him from contesting the 2027 general election.
The DSS lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN who had earlier asked the Judge not to grant audience to Sowore but his counsel on record, prayed that the recusal application be discountenanced.
In the amended charge filed on December 5, 2025, Sowore was re-arraigned by the federal government on two count charges bothering on defamation of Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Sowore had pleaded not guilty to the two count charges when read to him, prompting the DSS to call its witnesses and also tendered exhibits to establish the Cyberbullying charges.
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