A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by politician and publisher Omoyele Sowore against the Department of State Services (DSS), its Director General, and Meta Platforms Incorporated.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, April 2, Justice Mohammed Umar ruled against Sowore on all issues presented, declined to grant the reliefs sought, and dismissed the case for lacking merit.
Sowore had alleged that Meta, acting on the directive of the DSS and its DG, removed a Facebook post in which he described President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal” and subsequently deactivated his account. In the August 26, 2025 post, Sowore wrote, “This criminal actually went to Brazil to state that there is no more corruption in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly!”
He argued that the removal of the post and the deactivation of his account without prior notice violated his rights to fair hearing, freedom of expression, and association. However, Justice Umar held that the claim of a breach of fair hearing was misplaced, noting that such rights apply only to proceedings before a court or tribunal.
“The law is that, to seek to enforce the fundamental right to fair hearing provided under Chapter four of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the alleged violation must be in respect of proceedings before a court or tribunal established by law.
“There would be no case of infringement of the right to fair hearing under Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution when the decision alleged to have violated one’s constitutional right to fair hearing is that of a non-judicial body,” he said.
The judge further ruled that the actions of the DSS and Meta did not amount to a violation of Sowore’s rights to freedom of expression and association.
“It is to be noted that the protection of the rights and reputation of others is one of the instances where the right to freedom of expression can be curtailed.
“Expression can be restricted to protect the rights, reputation, or privacy of others. This is to say, where an expression is meant to disparage an individual or a group of individuals, the law will not allow it,” he said.
Justice Umar added that Meta acted independently under its own policies, stating, “This court agreed with the submission of the first and second respondents that whatever action Facebook has taken is entirely done under its own policies and independent judgment.” On the issue of reliefs sought by the applicant, the court held that Sowore failed to establish that his rights had been violated or were under threat.
“A careful perusal of the deposition of the applicant in the affidavit in support of the application shows the applicant has failed to convince this court that his rights as guaranteed under Sections 36(1), 39, and 41 have been or are likely to be threatened by the respondents. This court is of the firm view that the applicant is not entitled to any of the reliefs sought and so hold. On the whole, I find no merit in this application, and it is hereby dismissed,” the judge said.
Following applications for costs by counsel to the DSS and Meta, the court awarded N1.5 million against Sowore, with N500,000 payable to each of the three respondents.
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