“Expired Meat” & “Drunkard”: Court Blocks Sowore from Using Tinubu’s Past Insults in Cyber-bullying Trial
ABUJA — The legal battle between the Federal Government and activist Omoyele Sowore took a dramatic turn on Wednesday as a Federal High Court in Abuja blocked the defense from using President Bola Tinubu’s own past political insults as evidence.
Justice Mohammed Umar rejected two sets of documents tendered by Sowore’s legal team, ruling that they could not be admitted through a Department of State Services (DSS) witness who claimed “ignorance” of their contents.
Sowore is standing trial on a two-count amended charge of cyberstalking and cyberbullying for a social media post made on August 25, 2025, in which he labeled President Tinubu a “criminal.”
The “Hypocrisy” Defense Fails
The drama unfolded when defense counsel Marshal Abubakar attempted to tender historical publications to prove a point about political language.
- The Strategy: The defense sought to enter into evidence past statements where Tinubu (then an opposition leader) allegedly described former President Goodluck Jonathan as a “drunkard and sinking fisherman” and former President Olusegun Obasanjo as “expired meat.”
- The Goal: To argue that harsh political criticism is a standard part of Nigerian democracy, not a cybercrime.
- The Rejection: The prosecution witness, DSS official Cyril Nosike, told the court he was “unaware” of these statements. Consequently, Justice Umar ruled that the documents could not be tendered through a witness who denied knowledge of them.
“You cannot tender a document through a witness who said he did not know anything about it,” the Judge ruled, marking the documents as “rejected.”
Corruption Evidence Also Blocked
In addition to the political statements, the court also rejected reports tendered by the defense detailing alleged corruption within the DSS and EFCC. Abubakar had attempted to use reports of the DSS dismissing 115 officers for corruption in 2025 to substantiate Sowore’s claims that “corruption has not ended” in Nigeria—a direct counter to the President’s statement in Brazil that sparked Sowore’s initial post.
The court again sided with the prosecution counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), who argued that these reports were irrelevant to the specific charge of cyberstalking.
“Contempt” Over Live Stream
Tensions rose further when the prosecution accused the defense team of secretly live-streaming the court proceedings, an act strictly prohibited in Nigerian federal courts.
- The Accusation: Kehinde claimed a video of the previous session had leaked online.
- The Reaction: Although the defense denied involvement, blaming “agents of the state,” Justice Umar described the act as contempt of court and vowed to order a security investigation to identify the culprit.
What Next?
The trial has been adjourned until March 5, 2026, for the continuation of cross-examination. For now, the prosecution has scored a technical victory, stripping Sowore of a key defense strategy: using the President’s own history of fiery rhetoric against him.