THE Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned until June 15, 2026, for ruling on an application filed by former presidential candidate of the Action Alliance Congress, Omoyele Sowore, seeking the recusal of Justice Mohammed Umar from his ongoing trial.
News Point Nigeria reports that Justice Mohammed Umar fixed the date after hearing arguments from Sowore and the prosecution during proceedings on the matter.
At the hearing, Sowore informed the court that he would represent himself for the time being pending the engagement of a new lawyer or the reconstitution of his legal team.
“My lawyers said they are afraid to appear before this court to defend me because of the humiliation they suffered before this court,” he told the judge.
He subsequently moved two applications already filed and served on the prosecution.
In the first application, Sowore asked the court to order Justice Umar to recuse himself from the case on grounds of alleged bias. In the second, he sought a referral of the matter to the Chief Judge for reassignment to another judge.
Prosecuting counsel, Kehinde Akinlolu, opposed the applications and urged the court to dismiss them.
“The application is an abuse of court process and is meant to irritate the court,” Akinlolu argued.
He added that the court was bound by its record, including a letter from the Chief Judge directing that the matter should proceed before Justice Umar.
“The court is bound by its record, where the letter written by the Chief Judge directed that the matter should proceed,” he said.
The prosecutor further urged the judge to disregard what he described as “the tantrums being brought forward by the defendant and his lawyers.”
In a brief ruling, Justice Umar said he needed time to study the processes filed by Sowore before making a decision.
“I will have to go through the processes filed by the defendant before ruling on the application,” the judge stated.
He then adjourned the matter to June 15, 2026, for ruling.
Sowore is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services over allegations that he made false claims against President Bola Tinubu by describing him as “a criminal” in posts published on his X and Facebook accounts.