Court Adjourns Sowore’s Arraignment to October 27 Over Failure to Serve Charges

The Federal High Court in Abuja has postponed the arraignment of activist Omoyele Sowore and two others on cybercrime charges.

Justice Mohammed Garba Umar adjourned the case to October 27 after today’s proceedings stalled because the federal government failed to properly serve Sowore with the charge sheet.

When the case was called, Sowore’s lead counsel, Abubakar Marshall, informed the court that his client had not received a copy of the charges, as required by law. However, government counsel Mohammed Babadoko Abubakar, Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), argued that service had already been done.

The judge checked the case file and confirmed that Sowore had indeed not been served. The prosecution then requested permission to serve Sowore in open court, which the judge granted.

After receiving the documents, Sowore asked for three days—as allowed by law—to study the charges and prepare his defense. Although the prosecution opposed the request, Justice Umar approved it.

With that, the arraignment was officially rescheduled for October 27.