A FEDERL High Court in Abuja has directed six commercial banks in Nigeria to furnish the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, with detailed financial records of bank accounts linked to activist, politician, and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, and his companies.
News Point Nigeria reports that the order, issued by Justice Emeka Nwite on Monday, followed an ex parte application brought before the court by police counsel, Wisdom Madaki, on behalf of the IGP.
The development marks a fresh chapter in the legal battles surrounding Sowore, a former presidential candidate and convener of the #RevolutionNow movement, who has long been a vocal critic of successive Nigerian governments.
According to court filings, no fewer than 26 bank accounts linked to Sowore are under investigation. These include accounts belonging to Sahara Reporters Media Foundation, his political platform, the African Action Congress (AAC), and other associated entities.
The IGP’s request sought “an order directing the banks to furnish the applicant through the Office of the Inspector General of Police Monitoring Unit with account opening packages/mandate cards, and certified true copies of statements of account reflecting transfers with account numbers of both inflows and outflows from January 2024 till date.”
In the supporting affidavit, the police said Sowore is being investigated for terrorism financing, money laundering, and fraudulent activities.
The affidavit stated that intelligence reports allegedly linked Sowore’s financial dealings to terrorism funding.
“The office of the complainant receives an intelligence report that the first respondent is using the accounts for terrorism financing, money laundering, and receives financial support from foreign partners for terrorism,” the IGP’s application read.
The police argued that securing the bank account records was necessary to advance investigations into Sowore’s alleged financial transactions.
The police maintained that Sowore had allegedly used multiple bank accounts to move suspicious funds and to receive foreign financial support, suggesting a pattern of fraudulent and terror-related financing.
“The respondent has been using the accounts for money laundering, terrorism funding, and fraudulent activities,” the affidavit further alleged.
While the police provided no public details of the supposed foreign financiers, they insisted that obtaining Sowore’s banking records was critical to verifying the intelligence reports.
With the court’s order now in place, the six banks are mandated to provide the IGP with the requested details covering all transactions linked to Sowore and his organizations from January 2024 to August 2025.
The police have not disclosed whether Sowore will be formally charged, but sources suggest the financial documents will play a key role in determining the next phase of the investigation.
Sowore, who has been arrested and detained multiple times in Nigeria since 2009, has consistently accused the authorities of targeting him because of his activism and investigative journalism.
As of press time, Sowore had yet to issue an official response to the court ruling.