He argued that the world has moved beyond outdated legal practices, calling for court proceedings to be livestreamed to ensure transparency.
Former presidential candidate and human rights activist Omoyele Sowore has lambasted the Department of State Services (DSS) for prosecuting an X (formerly Twitter) handle in court that he insists has no connection to President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking on Wednesday, Sowore described the DSS’s action as dumb and embarrassing, revealing that the handle under prosecution was created in 2012 by a user known as OfficialADJT, long before Tinubu became Nigeria’s president.
Sowore, who is standing trial on charges of calling President Bola Tinubu a criminal, said the trial represents a crucial moment for free speech and transparency in Nigeria.
He argued that the world has moved beyond outdated legal practices, calling for court proceedings to be livestreamed to ensure transparency.
“We should be having this proceeding livestreamed to the world, America, where we borrowed everything they do it. The UK are a little bit different. But the truth today is that without transparency, there cannot be justice,” Sowore said.
He went further to describe the DSS’s insistence on hiding the trial from the public as a reaction to being charged so badly during proceedings, adding that the case is an open trial, not a secret one.
“It is the most important political trial of the year, 2026. This is a political trial that will determine the future of free speech in the country,” he said.
Sowore did not hold back in criticising the conduct of the DSS during the hearing.
He noted that agents appeared unaware that the X handle they were prosecuting had no official connection to the presidency, confusing it with the official presidential handle.
Sowore said, "The Twitter handle they are prosecuting in court today was put up by a person known as OfficialADJT in 2012 when Tinubu was not the president of Nigeria. That is how dumb these DSS guys are saying it.
"I am telling you that they don't know the difference between the official handle of the person who was Tinubu when he was in Lagos in 2012 and the Nigerian president whose Twitter handle is actually NGR president or whatever handle they are using. The handle they are prosecuting in court today was established in 2012. The handle of OfficialADJT.
"But our playboy DSS guy of course doesn't know anything and he was embarrassed.”
Sowore insisted that “our position over who is a criminal and who is not a criminal has not changed”.
"Because we have court documents that state clearly who is a criminal and who is not a criminal. We have stated it clearly that the threshold for being a criminal starts from when you start committing crimes. We have plenty of evidence,” he stated.
"Whether they admit it or not, don't worry about that. It will not change the facts.”
Reacting to the controversy over livestreaming, Abubakar Marshal, lead counsel for Sowore, emphasized that court proceedings in Nigeria are constitutionally required to be public.
He pointed to the 2015 trial of Nnamdi Kanu as a precedent, noting that it was also livestreamed.
Marshal further ridiculed the government’s witness, who appeared unaware of basic facts during questioning, calling the moment embarrassing. He added that the trial must rest on facts, and when nothing is built on substance, it inevitably collapses.
Marshal said, "So there is nothing wrong with the world knowing about happenings, proceedings that have the potential of shaping the political landscape of the country for a very long time in terms of free speech, in terms of political comment, in terms of integrity and accountability in the public space.”
According to him, “the court system in Nigeria must move away from the analogue mode of doing things to a digital world”.
Free speech, open trial, and fair trial are fundamentals in terms of proper fair trial to think,” Marshal said.
"And that was what we witnessed in court, and that is what has been trending in the public space. On the issue of the documents that were tendered and rejected, the witness was quite being very basic. Like this, he continued to sound like, ‘I don't know, I am not aware of the last time.’”
The human rights lawyer described the responses given by the witness during questioning as “very embarrassing”.
“This case is a trial of the Nigerian people,” he said.
"Nigerians must rise and demand that we have a right to demand that the government in power should live in tandem and in dictate with the tenet of democracy. Public power is not personal to the occupier of that office.”
He explained that public power must be exercised in the interest of Nigerians, noting that this is why the constitution affirms that sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria, through whom governments derive their powers and authority.
He said, "The powers vested in the president are not personal to him. The powers are the powers of the Nigerian people. And the resources that have been vested in him are not for his personal use alone.
"The president is an ambassador of the country whenever he travels out of this country. And he must state factually in all his interviews and reflect the truth of this country.”
According to Marshal, it “was on that basis that we are in court to defend the right of Nigerians to demand accountability”.
“Mr. Sowore is now standing trial in court today. Freedom of self-purpose or the powers willingly connected to the persons in authority must be utilised for the common good of a large number of Nigerians," Marshal added.