By Jane Okafor, Abuja
A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted fresh bail to activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, in the sum of N200 million, weeks after revoking his earlier bail over his failure to appear for trial.
Delivering the ruling on Tuesday, Justice Muhammad Umar ordered Sowore to produce two sureties before the bail could take effect. One of the sureties must be a traditional ruler from his community, while the other must own landed property within the Federal Capital Territory.
The court also directed the defendant to deposit his international passport with the court registrar pending the conclusion of the trial.
After granting the application, Justice Umar released Sowore into the custody of his lawyers and adjourned the case until Monday, July 6, when the defendant is expected to open his defence.
Sowore is facing prosecution by the Department of State Services over alleged cybercrime linked to social media posts in which he allegedly described President Bola Tinubu as “a criminal.” He has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
The court had on June 16 revoked Sowore’s earlier bail and issued a bench warrant for his arrest after he failed to appear for proceedings.
Sowore had explained that he was unable to attend the hearing due to a prior engagement in Lagos and sought an adjournment. However, the prosecution, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Akinlolu Kehinde, opposed the request and urged the court to proceed with the trial.
Following the revocation of his bail, Sowore challenged the bench warrant and requested that the trial judge recuse himself from the case. The application was dismissed, after which he was remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing of his fresh bail application.
In Tuesday’s ruling, Justice Umar restored Sowore’s bail on fresh terms, requiring him to meet the N200 million bail bond and satisfy all conditions before regaining his freedom.
Reacting after the ruling, Sowore described the fresh bail conditions as part of what he called continued efforts by the authorities to suppress him but maintained that they would not halt his activism.
“There is no bus on earth that can stop this revolution. We warned them, but they would not listen. But now, it appears a little bit of common sense is returning to them, and as a result, I was granted bail, requiring a traditional ruler, somebody with property in Abuja, and N200m and my international passport,” he said.
He added, “They have always been after the passport. So nobody can come after our movement. Nobody can stop the movement. Nobody can stop the idea whose time has come.
“What I want to tell Nigerians is that it is not about my freedom; it is about the liberation of the Nigerian people.”
