The Department of State Services (DSS) on Monday amended the criminal charge it filed against Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, over an alleged false claim against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Counsel to the DSS, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, disclosed the amendment to Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja shortly after the case was called for trial. He requested that the amended two-count charge be read to Sowore, who is now the sole defendant.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the original charge had listed Sowore, X Inc. (formerly Twitter), and Meta Inc. (Facebook) as the first, second and third defendants respectively. However, the amended charge removed the names of X and Meta, leaving Sowore as the only accused.

Sowore’s counsel, Marshal Abubakar, did not oppose the application for the charge to be read to his client.

After the amended counts were read in court, Sowore pleaded not guilty.

Sowore, a former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 elections, is being prosecuted over alleged cyberstalking of President Tinubu through posts made on his X handle and Facebook page.