The court rejected Sowore’s request to postpone the cyberbullying trial

Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday refused to grant the request of Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, for a postponement of his trial in a cyberbullying case until after the upcoming court holiday.

Justice Umar in his ruling rejected the request of Sowore’s attorney, Marshall Abubakar.

He also ordered the accused, who was charged by the Department of State Services (DSS) to enter his plea from June 5.

The judge ordered that further examination of this case be carried out every day, starting from the date of the next adjournment.

Sowore is on trial for allegedly making false claims against President Bola Tinubu by calling him a “criminal” in posts he made on his “X” and Facebook accounts.

At the resumed hearing on the matter, DSS lawyer, Akinlolu Kehindem (SAN), said that the case had been fixed for June 4 to get the Chief Judge’s response to a May 19 letter from Sowore, requesting that the case be transferred to another judge.

Kehinde said that, on May 26, he had been given a copy of the presiding judge’s response dated May 22, which stated the defendant’s application was rejected and the court was ordered to continue hearing the case.

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He then asked the judge to order the defendant to submit his defense.

Responding to this, Abubakar stated that part of the presiding judge’s response directed the defendant to submit an official application so that he could be tried in open court.

Abubakar urged the court to postpone the case until the upcoming court holiday so that Sowore, a presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), can participate in next year’s presidential election.

Responding, Kehinde faulted Abubakar’s interpretation for the presiding judge’s response.

He emphasized that the case brought to court had nothing to do with political activities in the country.

Following a disagreement between the two lawyers regarding the content of the presiding judge’s response, Justice Umar requested a copy of the letter and read it, after which he declared Abubakar wrong.

He said: “From the contents of the letter, none of the defendants have been asked to apply to this court.

“This court does not deny a defendant the right to file any plea. This may be done at any time before a decision is rendered.”

The judge said the current stage of the case only required the defendant to present his defense.

After that, the judge ordered Sowore to enter his defence.