Human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has alleged that the judge presiding over his criminal defamation case revoked his bail despite his appearance in court on the scheduled hearing date.
Sowore raised the alarm in a post shared on his verified Facebook page on Tuesday, where he also posted a letter addressed to the Deputy Chief Registrar (DCR) of the Federal High Court in Abuja requesting a new date for the ruling on his application seeking the judge’s recusal from the case.
According to the letter dated June 15, 2026, Sowore stated that the matter had been adjourned for ruling on his motion asking the judge to recuse himself from the case. He said he arrived at the court by 8:20 a.m. and remained there until about 11:57 a.m., when the court registry informed him that the judge would not be sitting.
“I was in the Court on the 15th day of June, 2026 from 8.20 A.M until I was told by the registry that the Court would not be sitting at about 11.57 A.M without any reason advanced or prior notification given,” the letter read.
In the correspondence, Sowore requested that the ruling be rescheduled for either July 2, 3, 14, 15, 17 or September 8, 9, 10, or any other date the court considered convenient.
However, in the Facebook post, the activist claimed that instead of hearing his application for recusal, the court proceeded to revoke his bail.
“It has been brought to my notice that the judge presiding over my case concerning ‘Tinubu is a criminal’ has revoked my bail, despite my presence in court yesterday, when the judge was not in attendance; consequently, we requested a new date,” he wrote.
He further alleged that the day’s proceedings were expected to focus on his application for the judge’s recusal but took a different turn.
“The agenda for today was to consider my application seeking the judge’s recusal, but instead, he opted to revoke my bail in a bid to assert forceful control over the trial,” Sowore stated.
Expressing confidence in the face of the latest development, the activist vowed to challenge the decision.
“I will confront these developments with determination and resilience. This was all planned but it shall not prevail. The struggle continues!” he added.
LEADERSHIP reports that Sowore is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) for making alleged false claims against President Bola Tinubu by calling him “a criminal” in posts he made on his X and Facebook accounts sometime in 2025.
