Our Reporter, Abuja
Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, says he has rejected an official demand by the Department of State Services (DSS) that he retracts and deletes social media posts in which he criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Sowore in a Facebook post on Friday confirmed that he had received an official letter from the Directorate of State Services, DSS, asking him to delete his controversial posts on President Tinubu.
But in a response dated September 12, 2025, and addressed to the Director General of the DSS, Sowore described the letter from the agency as “insidious, fundamentally defective, and absolutely unlawful.” He insisted that the security service had no legal basis to act as a proxy for the President in matters of alleged defamation.
The DSS, in its letter, accused Sowore of publishing “criminal, false, and malicious” content against Tinubu and demanded that he retract the posts on his X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook pages. But Sowore maintained that only Tinubu himself could pursue a defamation case, citing judicial precedents, including the 2021 ruling of Justice Obiora Egwuatu which held that defamation is a personal tort.
“The SSS has consistently acted bullishly, illegally, and unlawfully—serving as a ready tool of oppression for dictatorial regimes bent on breaking rules and repressing the rights of the Nigerian people,” Sowore wrote in his reply.
He recounted previous clashes with the DSS dating back to his student days in the 1990s, including multiple detentions, the invasion of his hotel room in 2019, and the dramatic re-arrest inside a Federal High Court in Abuja despite bail orders. He accused the service of serially disobeying court rulings and violating his rights.
Sowore also invoked constitutional and international legal provisions protecting freedom of expression, including Sections 22 and 39 of the 1999 Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and rulings from courts across Africa striking down sedition and criminal defamation laws.
“Criticism is indispensable in a democracy. Freedom of speech includes the right to say what those in power find uncomfortable,” he said, adding that the DSS’s attempt to gag him was part of a long-standing pattern of repression.
The activist, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the African Action Congress (AAC), declared that he would not retract his statements.
“You have no business telling me how to criticise the President,” he told the DSS, vowing to continue holding leaders accountable.
“The determination of the Nigerian people to reclaim their country from thieves in power is unwavering. And it shall be achieved.”
The DSS is yet to issue a public response to Sowore’s rebuttal as at press time.
