Justice Nnamdi Okwy Dimgba of the Federal High Court Lagos has ordered former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to disclose the details of the agreement between the Federal Government and X, formerly Twitter.
The judgement, considered a landmark verdict, was delivered in May 2024 following a Freedom of Information suit brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). The certified true copy of the judgment was obtained last Friday.
SERAP’s Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare revealed in a statement on Sunday that the order was to assess whether the agreement complies with the exercise of Nigerians’ human rights online.
The former minister and the Ministry of Information are directed and compelled to provide a copy of the agreement between the Nigerian Government and Twitter to SERAP solely to ascertain its impact on the protection of fundamental human rights of Nigerians.”
“Disclosing the details of the agreement between the Nigerian Government and Twitter is in the public interest and does not affect Twitter’s business interest as a third party. It is also not prejudicial to Nigeria’s sovereignty and national security,” Justice Dimgba held.
“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 followed the Nigerian Government’s statement on 13th January 2022 after lifting the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria, to the effect that, “Twitter has agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history.”
The Nigerian Government suspended Twitter on June 4, 2021, after it removed a post from former president Muhammadu Buhari. The former president was joined in the suit as Co-respondent but the court gave the orders against the minister.