A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the publisher of SaharaReporters and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, following his failure to appear in court as a defendant in the ongoing alleged criminal defamation suit brought against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The court presided over by Justice Mohammed Garba Umar ordered that Sowore should be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre and brought before him on the next adjourned date being June 22, 2026 for ruling on the application he filed for recusal.
Justice Umar had in December 2025, granted Sowore bail based on self-recognition as he had rejected a request by the counsel to the DSS, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, to issue an arrest warrant after Sowore and his lawyer failed to appear in court for trial.
However, at the resumption of trial on Tuesday, neither Sowore nor his lawyer was present in court, a development that prompted counsel to the prosecution to apply to the court for a revocation of the bail and the issuance of a bench warrant.
The prosecution noted that Sowore’s absence was a deliberate “delay tactics”.
The DSS had filed a five-count charge against Sowore over social media posts in which he referred to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “criminal”.
Efforts by the DSS to make Sowore pull down the post were rebuffed by him as he insisted that it was within his fundamental human right to freedom of speech to post as he liked.
This prompted the DSS to file charges of criminal defamation against him.
In May, Justice Umar rejected Sowore’s “no-case submission,” and ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against him.
In response, Sowore and his legal team accused the judge of bias and requested that he recuse himself.
