The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has issued a formal call for the Nigerian government to secure the instant release of Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate representing the African Action Congress (AAC). This demand follows a ruling by Justice Mohammed Umar at the Abuja Federal High Court, which mandated that Sowore be held at the Kuje Correctional Centre. The detention is set to continue until the court rules on his request to pause the execution of a prior decision that revoked his bail.
During the same proceedings, Justice Umar dismissed a motion that requested his withdrawal from the case based on claims of bias. In response to the court order, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, urged federal authorities to drop all existing cybercrime and criminal defamation allegations against the activist. The organization maintains that Sowore is being held strictly for the peaceful utilization of his basic rights. Furthermore, SERAP expressed alarm regarding what it describes as a growing suppression of free speech, assembly, and media independence by the government, noting a lack of respect for the rule of law.
