Human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Omoyele Sowore, has vowed not to delete a tweet critical of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, despite a reported request from the Department of State Services (DSS) to X (formerly Twitter) demanding its removal.
Sowore disclosed this on Sunday in a post via his X account, stating that the social media platform had formally contacted him about the DSS demand.
“This morning, X (formerly Twitter) officially contacted me about the despicable threat letter they received from the lawless DSS over my tweet on Tinubu. One option I will NOT be taking is deleting that tweet. Thank you, @X,” Sowore wrote.
He also shared the message sent to him by X, which confirmed receipt of a legal request from the DSS. The message explained that while the agency alleged Sowore’s post violated Nigerian law, X had not taken any action on the reported content. It further emphasized the platform’s policy of notifying users when government agencies request content removal, regardless of the user’s location.
Sowore, a journalist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, is widely known for his pro-democracy campaigns and outspoken criticism of successive Nigerian administrations. He contested the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections under the AAC and has often clashed with security agencies.
Recall that the DSS wrote to X Corp., insisting that Sowore’s tweet disparaged Tinubu and posed a threat to national security.
The DSS, Nigeria’s domestic intelligence agency, has long been accused by rights groups of targeting dissent and curbing free expression. Sowore himself was arrested by the agency in 2019 during his “RevolutionNow” protest movement and was detained for several months despite court orders granting him bail.
X has previously faced pressure in Nigeria, most notably during the 2021 ban of Twitter by the Federal Government after the platform deleted a tweet by then-President Muhammadu Buhari.
Sowore’s refusal to delete the post has again drawn attention to the friction between government authorities and citizens’ digital rights, raising questions about free speech, surveillance, and the limits of political dissent in Nigeria’s democracy.
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