The Federal High Court Abuja yesterday rescheduled the arraignment Omoyele Sowore and two others on Cybercrime charges for October 27. The arraignment scheduled for yesterday could not be held due to the Federal Government’s inability to serve the charges on Sowore as stipulated by law.

When the matter was called, lawyer for the defendant Abubakar Marshall protested that he had not seen a copy of the charges or be served as required by law. He said the second accused had also not been served and since the trial is on joint charges, the arraignment could hold.

Lawyer for the government Mohammed Babadoko Abubakar, who is the Director of the Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), debunked the allegations of non-service of the charges, insisting that Sowore had been served. Justice Mohammed Garba Umar then checked the case file and found that Sowore had not been served. The DPPF subsequently applied for an order to serve him in the open court, which was granted.

Sowore accepted the service in the open court. He consequently applied for three days as required by law to study the charge and prepare for his defence. Although the DPPF objected to the request, it was granted by the judge. The arraignment was subsequently fixed for October 27.

At yesterday’s proceedings, Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) represented the third accused Metal Incorporation, while the second defendant X was not represented. Sowore and the two defendants were billed to be in the dock for allegedly making false posts against President Bola Tinubu allegedly to cause a breakdown of law and order in the country.

The suit filed on September 16 has X Incorporation and Meta (Facebook) as two other defendants. In the charges, Sowore was accused of using his official X handle page at Yele Sowore to tweet “This criminal @ official PBAT actually went to Brazil to state that there is no more corruption under his regime in Nigeria.

What audacity to lie shamelessly!. In count two, Sowore was said to have on August 26 used his official page Facebook to send the same false message out for the purpose of causing a breakdown of law and order in the country, especially among those who hold divergent views on the person of President Bola Tinubu.