A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted a fresh N200 million bail to the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and publisher, Omoyele Sowore, in his ongoing trial over alleged criminal defamation and cybercrime.
Delivering a ruling on Tuesday, Justice Mohammed Umar ordered Sowore to provide two sureties as part of the bail conditions.
The court ruled that one of the sureties must be a traditional ruler from Sowore’s community in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State, while the second must own landed property within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Justice Umar further directed that both sureties be verified by the prosecuting counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), before the bail can take effect.
The judge also ordered Sowore to deposit his international passport with the Deputy Registrar of the court pending the conclusion of the trial.
Following the ruling, Sowore’s counsel, R. O. Adakole, appealed to the court to release his client to enable him retrieve his passport from the United States Embassy in Lagos. The request was granted by the court.
Justice Umar subsequently adjourned the matter until July 6 for the defendant to open his defence.
The Department of State Services (DSS) is prosecuting Sowore over alleged criminal defamation following claims that he described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “criminal” in posts published on his official X and Facebook accounts.
The fresh bail followed an earlier decision by the court on June 16 revoking Sowore’s self-recognition bail after he failed to appear for trial.
The court had also issued a bench warrant for his arrest over his absence in the case involving allegations of cybercrime and criminal defamation.
When Sowore appeared before the court on June 24, Justice Umar ordered that he be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the determination of his application seeking a stay of execution of the bail revocation order and the bench warrant.
The judge also dismissed a separate application by the defendant requesting that he recuse himself from the case over allegations of bias.
