By Oluwatobi Omotosho
A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, fresh bail in the sum of N200 million, weeks after revoking his earlier bail over his failure to appear for trial.
In a ruling on Tuesday, Justice Muhammad Umar ordered Sowore to produce two sureties before the bail takes 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 Sowore to surrender his international passport to the court registrar pending the conclusion of the trial.
Following the ruling, Justice Umar released Sowore into the custody of his lawyers and adjourned the case until July 6, when he is expected to open his defence.
Sowore is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) on cybercrime charges linked to social media posts in which he allegedly described President Bola Tinubu as “a criminal.” He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The court had revoked his bail on June 16 and issued a bench warrant for his arrest after he failed to attend proceedings. Sowore had explained that he was unable to appear because of a prior engagement in Lagos and requested an adjournment, but the prosecution opposed the application.
After the revocation of his bail, Sowore challenged the bench warrant and sought the trial judge’s recusal. The application was dismissed, leading to his remand at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing of his fresh bail application.
Reacting to Tuesday’s ruling, Sowore described the bail conditions as part of continued efforts to frustrate him but maintained that they would not stop his activism.
