Justice Nnamdi Okwy Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Lagos has mandated former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to reveal the details of the agreement between the Nigerian Government and X, formerly known as Twitter.
This significant judgment was delivered in May 2024, following a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
In a statement issued on Sunday, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, claimed that the order seeks to determine whether the agreement is consistent with the protection of Nigerian human rights online.
The former minister and the Ministry of Information are expected to give a copy of the agreement to SERAP so that it can be evaluated in terms of protecting Nigerians’ fundamental human rights.
“Disclosing the terms of the agreement between the Nigerian government and Twitter is in the public interest and has no bearing on Twitter’s financial interests as a third party. “It is also not prejudicial to Nigeria’s sovereignty or national security,” Justice Dimgba concluded.
“The agreement between the Nigerian Government and Twitter must still be disclosed irrespective of the harm to Twitter if it would be in the public interest to make sure disclosure.”
Justice Dimgba dismissed the objections raised by the minister’s counsel and upheld SERAP’s arguments. Consequently, the court entered judgment in favour of SERAP against the minister.
Justice Dimgba further said, “The minister has failed to prove that the President has followed due process of law to designate Twitter as a Critical National Information Infrastructure upon the National Security Adviser’s recommendation and issued an Order in the Federal Gazette in that regard.
“Therefore, I hold that the disclosure of the Twitter agreement is not prejudicial to Nigeria’s sovereignty and national security or protected by the Official Secrets Act, as the minister has failed to prove the same.”
The suit filed against the former minister of information and culture came after the Nigerian government issued a statement on January 13, 2022, lifting the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria, stating that “Twitter has agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws, as well as the national culture and history.”
The Nigerian government suspended Twitter on June 4, 2021, after removing a post by former President Muhammadu Buhari. The former president was named as a co-respondent in the lawsuit, but the court ruled against the minister.