The Federal Government, at the instance of the Department of State Services, on Tuesday, filed criminal charges against activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, 8, over a social media post in which he described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal.”

But Sowore, who sneered at the charges, replied by also suing the DSS before the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging what he described as unconstitutional censorship of his social media accounts.

In its charges marked FHC/ABJ/CR/481/2025, the Federal Government alleged that Sowore, using his verified X handle, @YeleSowore, wrote: “This criminal @officialABAT actually went to Brazil to state that there is no more corruption under his regime in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly!”

In the five counts filed on Tuesday before the Federal High Court in Abuja by the Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, M. B. Abubakar, the Federal Government also listed X (formerly Twitter) and Meta (owners of Facebook) as co-defendants alongside Sowore.

The Federal Government said Sowore’s post, made on August 25, contravened Section 24(2)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024.

The case stemmed from Sowore’s posts during Tinubu’s visit to Brazil, where the President claimed his administration had eliminated corruption.

The DSS subsequently wrote to Sowore demanding he delete the “false, malicious, and inciting” messages, warning that failure to comply would attract legal action “to protect national security and public order.”

The agency also petitioned Meta and X Corp., urging them to delete the posts and deactivate Sowore’s accounts.

Sowore, however, refused, insisting that no amount of pressure would make him retract his comments.

He maintained that his criticism of the government was part of his constitutional duty to hold leaders accountable.

But in the charges, the Federal Government insisted that Sowore’s comments amount to offences punishable under Sections 24(1)(b) of the Act, as well as Sections 59 and 375 of the Criminal Code Act.

The agency said the post was intended to incite public disorder, inflame divisions among Nigerians with opposing political views, and damage the reputation of the President.

However, hours after the Federal Government filed the charges on Tuesday, Sowore, through his lawyer, Tope Temokun, counter-sued, praying the court to restrain the DSS from directing social media platforms to delete his posts, including those in which he called Tinubu a “criminal.”

“These suits were filed to challenge the unconstitutional censorship initiated by the DSS/SSS against Sowore’s accounts maintained with Meta and X,” Temokun said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This is about the survival of free speech in Nigeria. If state agencies can dictate to global platforms who may speak and what may be said, then no Nigerian is safe; their voices will be silenced at the whim of those in power.”

He argued that censorship of political criticism was alien to democracy, citing Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression.

“No security agency, no matter how powerful, can suspend or delete those rights,” he said. “Meta and X must also understand this: when they bow to unlawful censorship demands, they become complicit in the suppression of liberty. They cannot hide behind neutrality while authoritarianism is exported onto their platforms.”

The suit seeks declarations that the DSS has no authority to censor Nigerians on social media, that Meta and X must not allow their platforms to be used as tools of repression, and that Sowore’s rights—and those of other Nigerians—be fully protected against unlawful interference.

“We call on all lovers of freedom, journalists, human rights defenders, and the Nigerian people to stand firm. Today it is Sowore; tomorrow it may be you,” the statement said. “This struggle is not about personalities. It is about principle. And we shall resist every attempt to turn Nigeria into a digital dictatorship.”

As of Tuesday, neither of the suits had been assigned to a judge.