A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to disclose the details of the agreement between the Federal Government and the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The certified true copy of the ruling which was delivered in May by Justice Nnamdi Okwy Dimgba was made available to the Press only recently
It follows a Freedom of Information suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
SERAP’s Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare revealed in a statement on Sunday that the order was to assess whether the agreement complied with the rights of Nigerians who express themselves online across social media platforms
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.
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 had agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws, national culture and history.
The Nigerian Government had suspended Twitter on the 4th of June, 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 only named the minister in its ruling