Omoyele Sowore Goes Pro Se in Defamation Case After Lawyers Abandon Him

Omoyele Sowore, online publisher and African Action Congress presidential candidate, is facing a defamation (cyber‑bullying) trial in Abuja after posting on X and Facebook that President Bola Tinubu is a “criminal.” A Federal High Court ordered him to open his defence by early June. Sowore said his legal team abandoned him, prompting him to represent himself and request that Justice Mohammed Garba Umar recuse himself for alleged bias. The judge refused the recusal, set daily hearings from June 5, and postponed rulings on the recusal application to June 8 and later June 15. DSS counsel Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, continued to prosecute the case, while Sowore argued his constitutional right to choose his representation. He told the court, “Our lawyers indicated to me they are afraid before you and will not appear any longer because of the humiliation they suffered before this court,” and asked for additional time to reconstitute a new legal team.