A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday warned that it may revoke the bail granted to politician and online publisher, Omoyele Sowore, if he fails to appear at the next hearing in his ongoing cybercrime trial.

The presiding judge, Mohammed Umar, also said the court would issue a bench warrant for Sowore’s arrest and compel his appearance if he is absent again.

The warning followed an application by the prosecuting counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), who told the court that the defendant failed to appear despite being served with a hearing notice through his team of lawyers.

Sowore is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) over allegations that he made false claims against President Bola Tinubu by referring to him as a criminal in posts on his social media accounts on X and Facebook.

At Thursday’s proceedings, Sowore was absent from court, and none of his lawyers—reportedly numbering about 30—were present.

Reacting to the development, Kehinde informed the court that the matter had been scheduled for the defence to conclude its cross-examination of the first prosecution witness. He said records from the court registry confirmed that a hearing notice had been duly served on the defendant through his legal representatives, just as the prosecution had also been notified.

The prosecutor argued that the defendant, who is expected to attend court proceedings at every sitting, failed to provide any explanation for his absence and that of his lawyers.

Citing Sections 352(1) and (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, Kehinde urged the court to revoke the defendant’s bail and issue a bench warrant for his immediate arrest and production in court.

In his ruling, Justice Umar acknowledged that Sowore had indeed been served with a hearing notice through his lawyers. However, he noted that the defendant had consistently attended court sessions since the commencement of the trial late last year.

The judge also observed that previous adjournments in the case had been requested by both the prosecution and the defence.

He therefore ruled that the defendant should be given the benefit of the doubt, considering that it was the first time he had failed to appear for the proceedings.

Justice Umar, however, warned that if Sowore fails to attend the next hearing, the court would not hesitate to grant the prosecution’s request to revoke his bail and issue an arrest warrant.

The case was subsequently adjourned until March 16 for continuation of trial, with the court directing that another hearing notice be issued to the defence.