Sowore’s Trial: FG Files Omokri’s Media Interviews as Evidence, Ambassador-designate Testifies Today

Wale Igbintade

The federal government has filed fresh court documents indicating it will rely on televised interviews and newspaper publications involving aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan and ambassador appointee, Bemigho Reno Omokri, as part of its evidence in the ongoing criminal case against human rights activist and publisher Omoyelé Sowore before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The development was contained in a Notice of Additional List of Documents filed pursuant to the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, in Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025, in which the Federal Republic of Nigeria was the complainant.

Sowore was recently re-arraigned by the federal government on a two-count amended charge of alleged cyberstalking against President Bola Tinubu.

He pleaded not guilty to the amended charge.

According to the prosecution, the cyberstalking allegation stems from posts allegedly made by Sowore on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, in which he described Tinubu as a “criminal”.

In support of its case, the prosecution listed two television interviews granted by Omokri, aired on News Central Television and Channels Television’s Politics Today programme, as well as reports published by Vanguard and Punch newspapers in December 2025 and January 2026, respectively.

The prosecution also listed a USB flash drive containing electronic copies of the materials and a Certificate of Compliance issued under Section 84 of the Evidence Act, 2011, which is required for the admissibility of electronically generated evidence.

In a certificate personally signed by him, Omokri, who described himself as a lawyer, investor and author, certified the origin, authenticity and integrity of the electronic materials the prosecution intended to rely on during the trial.

He stated that the television interviews and online publications were downloaded from YouTube and online news websites using his Hewlett Packard (HP) computer, Model Number M44DL9H, and printed using a Sharp Printer (AR-5731).

Omokri further confirmed that the interviews aired on News Central Television and Channels Television were also downloaded into a USB flash drive, which had now been listed among the prosecution’s documentary exhibits.

According to him, both the HP computer and the Sharp printer were working optimally and in good order at the time the information was supplied and the documents generated.

He added that the documents were produced in the ordinary course of the computer’s operation and that he compared the printed materials with the original electronic records and found them to be identical.

The certificate, dated January 29, 2026, was issued to satisfy the requirements of Section 84 of the Evidence Act, which governs the admissibility of electronic evidence in Nigerian courts.

An Affidavit of Service filed by Kemi Esene, Practice Manager at Kehinde & Partners LP, counsel to the federal government, confirmed that Sowore was personally served with the additional documents on February 3, 2026.

The affidavit stated that the defendant was served with the Summary of Witness Statement of Mr. Bemigho Reno Omokri, the Certificate of Compliance, the Notice of Additional List of Documents, and a Notice of Additional List of Witnesses, with proof of service attached.

The latest filing underscored the prosecution’s decision to place media interviews, online publications and electronically stored materials at the centre of its case, bringing statements originally made in the public media space under judicial scrutiny in the cyberstalking trial against Sowore.

The case continued before the Federal High Court, Abuja.