Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday dismissed the no-case submission made by a Nigerian activist, Omoyele Sowore, in the charge of alleged cyberbullying of President Bola Tinubu brought against him by the Department of State Service (DSS).

The DSS is suing Mr Sowore for allegedly calling President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a “criminal” on his X (formally Twitter) handle.

The court has ruled that Omoyele Sowore has a case to answer, mandating that he provide a formal defence against the allegations raised by the prosecution, as a prima facie case has been established by the prosecution.

The court affirmed that the activist used his social media handle to share a post, a claim supported by the testimony of a prosecution witness.

Following the court’s decision on his no-case submission, Sowore, through his legal team, requested and received the permission of the judge to address the court directly.

Addressing Justice Umar, Sowore stressed that he was not confident that he would get justice from a court that had humiliated his legal counsel by asking him to kneel and also from a court that had subjected him to all forms of harassment.

He formally requested that Justice Umar recuse himself from his trial.

Counsel to Sowore informed the court that they will file an application for his recusal.

Despite objections from defence counsel Mr Marshal regarding his availability, the court adjourned the case until May 19th for further proceedings.