The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a no-case submission filed by Omoyele Sowore in his ongoing cyberbullying trial.
Justice Mohammed Umar delivered the ruling on Friday and ordered Sowore to enter his defence.
He is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services over alleged social media posts against President Bola Tinubu.
The DSS accused Sowore of referring to Tinubu as “a criminal” in posts shared on his X and Facebook accounts.
After the prosecution closed its case, Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, filed a no-case submission.
The defence argued that the prosecution failed to provide enough evidence to support the alleged cyberbullying charge against Sowore.
Abubakar told the court that no prima facie case had been established to justify asking the defendant to enter a defence.
However, counsel to the DSS, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, asked the court to dismiss the application.
Kehinde argued that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence for the trial to continue.
In his ruling, Justice Umar agreed with the prosecution and dismissed Sowore’s no-case submission.
The judge ruled that the court found enough evidence linking Sowore to the alleged offence at this stage of the trial.
He then ordered the Sahara Reporters publisher to open his defence in the alleged cyberbullying case.
Shortly after the ruling, Sowore accused the judge of bias while addressing the court.
The activist alleged that the judge had previously humiliated his lawyer during an earlier sitting by ordering him to kneel down.
Sowore also told the court that he was unsure of getting justice in the case and asked the judge to withdraw from further proceedings.
His lawyer supported the request and urged the court to recuse itself from the matter.
In response, Kehinde opposed the oral application.
The senior lawyer argued that any request for the judge to step down must be made through a formal written application.
Justice Umar subsequently directed the defence to file a formal application explaining why the judge should withdraw from the case.
The court later adjourned the alleged cyberbullying case until May 19 for hearing.