The Oyo state chapter of the African Action Congress (AAC) has criticised Mohammed Umar, judge of the federal high court in Abuja, following the revocation of Omoyele Sowore’s bail and the issuance of a bench warrant against him.
In a statement on Friday, Kayode Babayomi, Oyo AAC chairman, described the court’s action as a “judicial attack” on the party’s presidential candidate.
Babayomi alleged that the decision formed part of a broader effort to suppress Sowore’s political activities and silence dissenting voices.
“It is quite sad to see a federal high court judge being used by the Tinubu regime to wage lawfare against a man whose only crime has been to call for the development of this country and resist all forms of oppression,” he said.
The AAC chairman claimed that Sowore had appeared in court on June 15, the date earlier scheduled for proceedings, but that the judge did not sit.
According to him, Sowore subsequently wrote to the court registrar requesting hearing dates between July 2 and July 13, as well as in September, because of a planned trip to Lagos.
Babayomi alleged that despite the request, the judge fixed hearing for June 16.
“With Sowore unable to attend, the judge wasted no time in revoking his bail and issuing a bench warrant, despite seeing him in court the previous day in a viral video,” he said.
“This is not justice. This is persecution. This is another calculated attempt to stall the campaign of our presidential candidate and silence the biggest voice of the masses after seeing his nationwide popularity and acceptance in recent weeks.”
The party said it would resist what it described as the use of the judiciary as a tool of political oppression.
Babayomi said Nigerians have continued to show their support for Sowore over the various court cases instituted against him, adding that such support would translate to resistance against any attempt to suppress him through the courts.
“As much as we don’t expect justice from our courtrooms, we have decided to always take justice to them and we will never run away from the courtrooms,” he said.
“Sowore and other candidates must be allowed to contest and campaign freely.”
On Tuesday, Umar revoked Sowore’s bail and issued a bench warrant for his arrest after the activist failed to appear in court for proceedings in his ongoing cybercrime trial.
Sowore is standing trial on a two-count cybercrime charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) over a social media post in which he described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal”.
In March, the court warned that his bail could be revoked after he failed to appear for proceedings.
The judge eventually withdrew the bail on June 16 following another absence of the defendant in court.
