• Court fixes December 2 for his arraignment
• Court stops police in Lagos from declaring Sowore wanted
The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 presidential election, Omoyele Sowore, yesterday at the Federal High Court in Abuja escaped an arrest warrant following his failure to appear before the court for his arraignment on defamation charges.
Counsel to the Department of State Services (DSS), Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), during the proceedings yesterday, urged Justice Mohammed Umar to issue a bench warrant against Sowore for being absent in court without justification, having been served the charges and hearing notice.
The senior lawyer said that Sowore’s action of staying away from court despite being served with the charges was an affront to the sanctity of the court and must be treated with the punishment such behaviour deserves.
Kehinde said that Sowore’s absence was disturbing and unacceptable because no lawyer appeared for him as required by the law. He, therefore, urged the judge to invoke his inherent power to issue a Bench warrant for the arrest of the defendant.
Justice Umar, however, noted that the order for a bench warrant would not subsist for now, following the submission of the second defendant, X Corporation, that they have not been served the charge sheet even though they received the hearing notice.
The trial judge then directed that all parties should be duly served and subsequently adjourned the case to December 2, 2025, for arraignment to take place.
MEANWHILE, Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP), Olohundare Jimoh, also reaffirmed that his declaration of Sowore a wanted person remains in effect, vowing that the police will take all lawful steps to arrest him.
BUT Justice Musa Kakaki of a Federal High Court, Lagos, has restrained the CP, Lagos State Police Command, and other security agencies from arresting, intimidating, or declaring Sowore wanted.
The order followed an application filed by Sowore after reports surfaced that he was declared wanted in connection with unspecified allegations.
In his ruling, the judge granted an interim injunction restraining the respondents, particularly the Commissioner of Police, from “harassing, intimidating, threatening with arrest, or declaring the applicant wanted pending the determination of the substantive suit.”
Sowore said the order marked a reaffirmation of his faith in the Nigerian judiciary, even in the face of widespread public scepticism about the system.
