Nigerian government accuses Sowore of transferring over $50,000 ‘illicit funds’

Nigerian government Monday accused Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters and the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), of transferring $50,000 illicit funds

Sowore was arraigned by the Nigerian government on seven charges bordering on an alleged conspiracy to commit treason, money laundering, and insulting the President, among others.

During the sitting on Monday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, the prosecutor, Hassan Liman, on behalf of the Nigerian government, while reading out the seven-count charges alleged that Sowore transferred some “illicit funds”.

“That you Omoyele Sowore on April 2019 at Lagos and Abuja commit an offence by transferring the sum of $19,975 from your UBA account credited by City Bank, USA into a Sahara Bank Account with the aim of concealing the origin of the funds,” Liman said.

Liman said Sowore again transferred “$20,475 dollars from his UBA account credited by Sahara Reporters Media Group in New York with the aim of concealing the illicit origin of the funds.”

“That you Omoyele Sowore on the 27th of June did commit an offence by transferring the sum of $16,967 credited by Sahara Media Group USA with the aim of concealing the illicit origin of the funds,” he said.

Liman for the seventh charge said, “That you Omoyele Sowore on 16th July at Lagos and Abuja committed an offence by transferring the sum of $16,975 from your account in USA with the aim of concealing the illicit origin of the funds.”

Sowore, however, pleaded not guilty of all the charges.

For the first three charges, Sowore was accused of conspiracy to commit treasonable felony, treasonable felony, Cyberstalking respectively.

Sowore was arrested by the DSS Saturday, August 3 for planning a nationwide protest tagged #RevolutionNow.

The Nigerian government filed additional charges against Sowore on Friday, September 20, a day before the completion of the initial 45 days the court allowed the DSS to keep him in custody.