Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Lagos has ordered former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and the Federal Ministry of Information to disclose the details of the agreement between the Federal Government and X, formerly Twitter.
The court also directed them to assess whether the agreement complies with the exercise of Nigerians’ human rights online.
The judge gave the order while ruling on the suit marked FHC/L/CS/238/2022 filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in February 2022.
In the suit, SERAP asked the court to “direct and compel President Buhari and Alhaji Lai Mohammed to release and widely publish a copy of the agreement with Twitter, and the terms and conditions of any such agreement.”
The rights group filed the suit following the Federal Government’s announcement in January 2022 that it had lifted an earlier suspension of Twitter operation in Nigeria, stating that “Twitter has agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history.”
The group asked the court to grant the request because it is in the interest of justice to do so.
In his judgement delivered on May 28, 2024, Justice Dimgba stated, “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 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.
He 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.”
Justice Dimgba’s judgment reads in part, “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 first question that needs to be answered is how the need to disclose the agreement is outweighed by the importance of protecting the commercial interests of the third party, Twitter.
“The former minister has unequivocally argued that the disclosure could harm Twitter’s business interests in other jurisdictions, potentially with Twitter’s contractual negotiations.
“However, this defence is hypothetical and does not point to the specific business or contractual interests of Twitter that could be affected.”
