The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State has ordered a former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and the Ministry of Information to disclose the details of the agreement between the Federal Government and X, formerly Twitter, to assess whether the agreement complies with the exercise of Nigerians’ human rights online.
According to a statement issued by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, on Sunday, the judgment was delivered in May 2024 by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba following a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/L/CS/238/2022, filed by the organisation.
The Certified True Copy of the judgment was said to have been obtained last Friday.
In his judgment, Justice Dimgba held that, “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.”
Justice Dimgba added that, “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.”
The judge also stated that, “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.”
The judge 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.
