Femi Falana on Friday told the court President Buhari had in 2003 after he lost election under the defunct ANPP decided to stage a protest all over the country. However, he was neither arrested nor prosecuted but was rather disbanded by police who briefed him to go to court to challenge the action.
Falana in his defence also said that the current leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), including President Buhari in 2011, had called for the kind of revolution that took place in Egypt which he said was violent, pointing out that in this case, Sowore had specifically asked his followers not maintain a peaceful protest.
Sowore’s counsel said that the only time the term “revolution” was used was during the colonial era in 1948 when certain youths were arrested, stating that nobody was charged for treason but they were charged for sedition instead.
He further argued that the Federal Government has not come up with any cogent reason why the accused should not be released on bail pending his trial since under the law he is presumed innocent until found otherwise.
Falana argued that despite the allegation that Sowore planned to overthrow the government of Nigeria by staging a protest tagged RevolutionNow, the Federal Government failed to produce any evidence to prove the charge “We submit that the use of the word Revolution is not a criminal offence in Nigeria and it has never been criminalised.”
However, on another count charge that bordered on the allegation that Sowore insulted Buhari, Falana argued that under the law, no public office is allowed to use the machinery of the state to settle scores with his opponent.
“If the President feels offended by any statement made by the 1st defendant, the only option open to him is to sue for libel,” he added.
