The Department of State Services (DSS) has petitioned X (formerly Twitter) to deactivate the account of publisher and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore.
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In a letter signed by B. Bamigboye on behalf of the Director-General of the DSS, the secret police gave the social media platform 24 hours to act on its request.
The agency threatened “to take far-reaching, sweeping and across-the-board measures” if the platform failed to comply.
According to the DSS, a post made by Sowore on August 25, 2025, regarding President Bola Tinubu is “capable of inciting violence and threatening national security.”
Excerpts from the petition:
“We detected and monitored with dismay a widely condemned publication/trending Tweet by Omoyele Sowore on his X official handle, @YeleSowore, on 25th August 2025 at about 11:38 PM (2338 hours WAT), disparaging and ridiculing the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The tweet read: ‘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!’
Those words were personally directed at Mr. President through his official communication channel @officialABAT, the verified handle of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The said tweet is attached herewith and referenced for emphasis and necessary action.
The tweet is still in circulation and has attracted widespread condemnation by many Nigerians, some of whom may resort to unwholesome activities to vent their grievance over it. Supporters of the President have already begun staging street protests, thereby creating political tension and threatening the country’s national security. This is in addition to the reputational damage the tweet has on Mr. President and the nation before the international community.
The tweet in question violates X’s transparency policy. The Government has found it extremely dangerous, false, and an invasion of privacy that manipulates and negatively impacts the person of the President and the image of the country. Under Nigerian law, these words constitute offences punishable under Section 51 of the Criminal Code Act Cap. 77, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, which prohibits publication of false information; as well as Sections 19, 22, and 24 of the Cybercrimes Act 2025, which criminalize spreading fake news, publishing deliberately misleading or deceptive content, and posting offensive material with the intent to embarrass, humiliate, or provoke ethnic, religious, or tribal hatred. Such actions amount to domestic terrorism.
The law also makes both the offender and the medium through which the offence is propagated culpable and criminally liable.
Furthermore, the publication violates Section 2(3) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and other relevant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is beyond doubt that the words employed by Mr. Sowore constitute misleading information, online harassment and abuse, willful intent to propagate harmful ideology, hate speech, and deliberate efforts to discredit the President within the international community, thereby threatening Nigeria’s national security.
In light of the foregoing, we demand that your Corporation, as a matter of policy, immediately TAKE DOWN the tweet and all associated retweets.
This demand is unequivocal. Should you fail, neglect, or refuse to comply, the Federal Government will be compelled to take far-reaching, sweeping, and across-the-board measures through our organization, whose mandate covers such criminal acts.
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