Nigeria’s SSS has asked Elon Musk to deactivate Omoyele Sowore’s X account over anti-Tinubu posts, but Sowore dismissed the request as unconstitutional.
ABUJA – The State Security Service (SSS) has written to X Corp., demanding the immediate deactivation of activist Omoyele Sowore’s account over posts critical of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a letter dated September 6, 2025, and addressed to X owner Elon Musk, the SSS accused Sowore of spreading “misleading information, incitement to violence, cybercrime, hate speech, and disparagement of the President.”
The agency cited a post published on August 25 in which Sowore wrote: “This criminal @officialABAT actually went to Brazil to state that there is no more corruption under his regime in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly!”
Signed by B. Bamigboye on behalf of the Director General, the letter described the remarks as a “serious threat to national security” and gave X 24 hours to ban Sowore’s verified handle, @YeleSowore, warning of “far-reaching, sweeping and across-the-board measures” if ignored.
Reacting via Facebook, Sowore dismissed the request as “a national disgrace” and vowed to continue his activism. “The brazenness of this is not only unconstitutional…but a desecration of national dignity,” he said.
The move deepens longstanding tensions between Sowore and Nigerian authorities, dating back to his 2019 detention under former President Muhammadu Buhari.