Omoyele Sowore, the former presidential aspirant and activist, has been granted bail by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, following his arraignment on charges of cybercrime. The ruling, which took place on Thursday, January 30, sets Sowore’s bail at N10 million with one surety in the same amount. The conditions also require the surety to be a responsible individual with landed property of equal value.
Justice Musa Liman, who presided over the case, emphasized that the surety must provide the original documents of the property, as well as a passport photograph, to the court registrar. The judge also ordered that Sowore’s international passport be surrendered to the court registrar as part of the bail conditions.
In his ruling, Justice Liman granted Sowore 24 hours to fulfill the bail conditions. He made it clear that if the conditions were not met within that time frame, the activist would be detained by the police until they were satisfied.
The charges against Sowore, which are being pursued by the Nigerian Police, include 17 counts of cybercrime. These charges relate to a tweet in which Sowore allegedly referred to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, as the “illegal IGP.” The police have claimed that the tweet was false and aimed at inciting public disorder.
Sowore has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his legal team is pushing for lenient bail conditions. His counsel, Marshall Abubakar, argued that Sowore was not a flight risk and had consistently made himself available for legal proceedings. “We urge the court to grant lenient bail conditions, as our client has always cooperated with the legal process,” Abubakar told the court.
However, the prosecution, represented by counsel Udey Jonathan, opposed the request for leniency, advocating for strict bail conditions to ensure Sowore’s appearance at trial. “We submit that strict conditions are necessary to guarantee the defendant’s presence throughout the proceedings,” Jonathan argued.
Despite the prosecution’s opposition, the court granted bail but imposed stringent conditions, including the requirement for a responsible surety and the surrender of Sowore’s passport.
