Court Defers Ruling on Sowore’s Bail Application, Orders Continued Detention Until June 30
ABUJA – Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, will remain in custody at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending a ruling by the Federal High Court in Abuja on his application seeking to set aside a bench warrant issued for his arrest and the revocation of his bail.
Justice Muhammad Umar reserved ruling until June 30 after hearing arguments from both the defence and prosecution during proceedings on Wednesday.
Counsel to Sowore, Raphael Adakole, who represented Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Adeyinka Fusika, urged the court to vacate the June 16 order revoking the defendant’s bail following his failure to appear in court on the scheduled trial date.
The defence also requested the withdrawal of the bench warrant issued against Sowore and sought the restoration of the bail conditions earlier granted by the court.
In addition, Adakole appealed for the activist’s temporary release into the custody of his legal team pending the determination of the application. He assured the court that Sowore would continue to attend subsequent proceedings and cited concerns about his health as grounds for the request.
However, lead prosecutor, Akinlolu Kehinde SAN, opposed the application, arguing that the defendant had failed to place sufficient and credible facts before the court to warrant the exercise of judicial discretion in his favour.
While responding to the request for temporary release, the prosecution stated that it would leave the matter to the court’s discretion but urged the judge to consider what it described as “the optics of the matter.”
Delivering his remarks, Justice Umar noted that he had yet to thoroughly review all affidavits and counter-affidavits filed by both parties and would require additional time to study the submissions before reaching a decision.
The judge further observed that granting the request for temporary release before determining the substantive application could amount to prejudging the matter. Consequently, he declined the request and adjourned proceedings until June 30 for ruling.
Sowore is currently facing prosecution by the Federal Government over allegations that he published defamatory and false statements against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his social media platforms, X and Facebook, where he allegedly described the President as “a criminal.”
The outcome of the June 30 ruling is expected to determine whether Sowore’s bail will be reinstated and whether the arrest warrant issued against him will be set aside.
