The trial of activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, once again failed to commence on Wednesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, following what his legal team described as procedural lapses by the Nigeria Police Force.
Sowore, who shared details of the proceedings via his X handle, said the police admitted they had yet to serve charges on Sahara Reporters, the second defendant in the case, despite previously securing an ex parte order.
The activist’s defence team, led by Barrister Tope Temokun of Tope Temokun Chambers, Lagos, alongside Barrister Marshal D. F. Abubakar (Falana Chambers), Barrister Rosemary Hamza (Deji Adeyanju & Co.), Barrister Chike Anago, and Barrister Sunday Adebayo (Pelumi Olajengbesi’s Law Corridor), argued that the charges were “incompetent, unconstitutional, and a product of vendetta.”
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Barrister Abubakar cited the Police Act (2020), which prohibits officers from exploiting their positions for personal grudges, urging the court to first address these “fundamental breaches” before fixing an arraignment date.
Presiding Judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, adjourned the matter until September 15, 2025.
Sowore criticised the development as another “wasted day on the altar of frivolities” by what he called an “incompetent Police Force led by an illegal IGP.”