The State Security Service on Tuesday arraigned Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, at the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, for allegedly cyberbullying President Bola Tinubu.

Mr Sowore, who was arraigned before Justice Mohammed Umar, pleaded not guilty.

Earlier when the matter was called for Mr Sowore to take his plea, his lawyer, Marshal Abubakar, challenged the competency of the charge.

Mr Abubakar argued that a preliminary objection had been served on the counsel for prosecution, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN.

He, however, informed the court that the preliminary objections were served on the SSS lawyer few minutes before commencement of the proceedings.

He argued that his client cannot take a plea on a charge that was incompetent.

Responding, Mr Kehinde vehemently objected to Mr Abubakar ‘s submission.

The senior lawyer, who argued that the application was not ripe to be taken, said the business of the day was for Mr Sowore’s arraignment.

He said the preliminary objections filed was part of the mischief of the 1st defendant (Sowore)’s lawyer to delay proceedings in the matter.

He reminded the court that many adjournments had been granted at the instance of the 1st defendant.

Mr Kehinde, who cited Section 396(3) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, to back his argument, said no application ought to be heard until Mr Sowore’s arraignment.

Lawyers who appeared for X Incorp (formerly Twitter) and Meta (Facebook) Incorp (2nd and 3rd defendants) did not oppose the application for the defendants to take their plea.

In a short ruling, Justice Umar aligned with the argument of the SSS lawyer and ordered that the arraignment should proceed.

The SSS, in the charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025, accused Mr Sowore of making made a false claim against the person of President Tinubu by referring to him as “a criminal” on his X and Facebook accounts.

The security agency then sued Mr Sowore, the 2019 and 2023 presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), as 1st defendant and joined X Incorp (formerly Twitter) and Meta (Facebook) Incorp as 2nd and 3rd defendants.

(NAN)