By EBUN-OLU ADEGBORUWA, SAN

Every generation produces non-conformists, who help to shape society and hold the government accountable to the people. Omoyele Sowore has been an activist right from his days as a students’ union leader at the University of Lagos. During his reign, he was very vibrant, proactive and committed to the welfare of students. He eventually emerged President of UNILAG Students’ Union and also became a member of the Senate of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). From his public profile, Sowore is from the Niger-Delta region of Ondo State and he was in UNILAG between 1989-1994. He holds a post-graduate degree in Public Administration from Columbia University. Sowore founded the media platform Sahara Reporters in 2006, aimed at exposing corruption and promoting accountability in Nigerian governance. No doubt Sowore revolutionized media coverage in Nigeria, daring to tread where the established traditional media could not thrive. He founded the African Action Congress as a political party in 2018 and he has through that platform contested election to be president of Nigeria in 2019 and 2023. Sowore launched the #RevotionNow movement in 2019, a move which has pitched him against successive administrations in Nigeria. There is also the #TakeItBack movement founded by Sowore and other notable comrades to wrestle power from those they described as political vultures. From whichever angle you look at him, Sowore represents different things to different people, depending on the narrative.

In my own humble view, the government should let Sowore be. It is totally oppressive and brutal to unleash the fullness of government arsenals upon a single individual, to muzzle him, to silence him and to render him voiceless. The Comrade politician is just one in two hundred million people seeking change for the people through purposeful leadership that will meet up with the yearnings and aspirations of our people. The criminal charges filed against Sowore at the behest of the government are countless, leading to the restriction of his fundamental rights of movement, privacy, freedom of expression and even his political activities. It is possible that Sowore specializes in unconventional methods that the government is either not used to or comfortable with, but that is normal in a democratic set up, so long as they are done within the confines of the law. For instance, there are many civil cases pending in various courts filed against Sowore and his media outfit by persons who feel aggrieved with some of his publications. That is how it should be. Any attempt to gag Sowore through multiple criminal charges is therefore unacceptable. Sowore has paid his dues, through several arrests, detentions, and court cases regarding his activism and calls for revolution. In 2021 for instance, Sowore was reportedly shot in the leg with a tear gas canister by security forces during a protest. He continues to be an outspoken critic of Nigerian governance and a prominent figure in the civil society movement. Nigeria needs many more Sowores for its growth and development.

The purpose of this piece however is to x-ray recent developments involving Sowore and the judiciary. It transpired that on March 24, 2026 Sowore was present before the Federal High Court, Abuja. From all the accounts of the events of that day, it would seem that Sowore had no case in that court for that day but he was there to confirm the date of his case that was previously scheduled to come up in that court. From the video that circulated online, Sowore addressed the press inside the courtroom. This is not in dispute. Also present in court on that fateful day was another Comrade lawyer, Mr. Musbau Adetunmbi, Senior Advocate of Nigeria. His attempt to caution Sowore from conducting an interview inside the courtroom was rudely rebuffed by Sowore, who then proceeded to disparage his Rank and status as a Learned Senior member of the Bar. From the same video, Mr. Adetunmbi, SAN, was properly robed and well seated in the Inner Bar, perhaps waiting for the judge to commence the proceedings of the day. In what appeared to be a total disrespect for the Bench and the Bar, Sowore sat on the desk of the Inner Bar and proceeded from there to rail unbridled verbiage on the learned SAN, who was very calm and composed, in his responses. The encounter has generated several articles and opinions within the public space, especially on the proprietary or otherwise of conducting a press interview within the courtroom.

The courtroom is a public space for the reason of access to the court by all and sundry, subject always to the overriding direction of the presiding judge who is regarded in law as the master of the court. For various reasons, a person can be barred from attending a court session. Freedom of expression and the press is guaranteed under section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution, with various restrictions stipulated thereunder. First is to have an outfit or platform that must be registered and second, that freedom is subject to other conditions stipulated by law or the authorities, in this case that of the overall direction of the court or judge. The courtroom cannot be a media centre and no form of media activity is allowed right inside the courtroom except as may be authorized by the judge. In the recent 2023 Presidential Election Petition, the issue of live media coverage of court proceedings was raised and duly addressed by the court. It is gratifying that the Nigerian Bar Association has spoken eloquently in condemnation of the actions of the revolution promoter, cautioning him not to turn the courtroom into a stage for ‘publicity, advocacy theatrics, or confrontation’ in a way that is inconsistent with the discipline required in judicial proceedings. While it is appreciated that Sowore is not a lawyer properly trained in legal ethics, he has nonetheless been in and out of the courtrooms to become familiar with acceptable legal conduct. He even boasted that he too has his own SANs, although one is not too sure if he rails on them in the same manner that he addressed Mr Adetunmbi, SAN in court, on that fateful day.

The sanctity of the court cannot be sacrificed on the altar of media theatrics or political grandstanding. Countless times Sowore has addressed the press in the premises of various courts and no one has ever stopped him from the lawful exercise of such right. But to turn the courtroom into a press center, where even the Inner Bar becomes desecrated, is totally unacceptable. And Sowore is fully aware of this. On December 6, 2019, operatives of the Directorate of State Security, DSS, invaded the Federal High Court in Abuja, where Sowore was standing trial. He had been granted bail by the court but DSS in its usual fascist style refused to release him, prompting the judge to order his production in court within 24 hours. Upon his release by the Court on that occasion, the DSS attempted to arrest Sowore right inside the courtroom. Sowore resisted that unlawful act and also mobilized his lawyers, supporters and other Nigerians in court to stop it. Sowore’s reasoning then was that he could not be arrested inside the courtroom. Of course he was right on that occasion but he is wrong in this present circumstance. Once the judge loses control of the court, an end is imminent for the authority of that court. This is why in appropriate cases, the judge is empowered to bar certain categories of persons from having access to the courtroom.

The other point that Comrade Sowore must note is that the judiciary is an institution, which should be protected and preserved at all costs. Individual members of that institution may be found wanting for one misconduct or the other but that cannot be sufficient for the balkanization or condemnation of the entire legal system and the institutions that sustain it. Recently, the Commissioner of Police in charge of Lagos State Command in commando style declared Sowore wanted and even issued an unlawful order for him to stay away from Lagos State. Sowore ran to the Federal High Court in Lagos and the judiciary rose in his defence to stop the unwarranted aggression of the police against him. Not only that judgment was delivered in his favour, the court ordered the police to pay compensation of Thirty Million Naira to Sowore. It is left to be imagined whether Sowore offered any bribe or gratification to that judge in order to secure the judgment. By all definitions and ramifications, that court is part of the judiciary in Nigeria that Sowore condemns and castigates on a daily basis. Without doubt, there will still be other instances when Sowore will rely on the judiciary to rescue him from the oppressive conducts and policies of the government. If we close our eyes because of bad people, surely good people will pass us by unnoticed. We cannot pull down the judicial institution simply because of isolated cases of alleged corruption which at best constitute the exception rather than the norm.

From my own personal experience, patriots all through the ages have always relied on the judiciary (Bar and Bench) to save them from persecution. Right from the period of the agitation for independence up to the campaign against military rule and civilian dictators, the courts have stood tall in solid support of nationalists and activists, against dictatorial tendencies and oppressive policies. It is therefore not a good strategy for anyone involved in mass mobilization for revolution or with an agenda to take back the government from the primitive undertakers, to wage unnecessary war against lawyers and judges. It is nothing but self-immolation. Let Comrade Sowore beware of the limits of activism. Wisdom is not cowardice and it is always profitable to direct.

•Adegboruwa SAN, foremost lawyer and activist, writes from Lekki Lagos.

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