Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal Excessive Courtroom in Lagos has ordered the Ministry of Info and Tradition to make public the settlement between the federal authorities and X, previously Twitter.
Justice Dimgba held that the disclosure would enable the plaintiff within the swimsuit, Socio-Financial Rights and Accountability Challenge (SERAP), to evaluate whether or not the settlement complies with the train of Nigerians’ human rights on-line.
LEADERSHIP reviews that SERAP had approached the courtroom by means of a Freedom of Info swimsuit quantity FHC/L/CS/238/2022, looking for an order to compel the Ministry of Info and Tradition, and the then minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to present particulars of the association that led to the lifting of the federal authorities’s ban on the social media platform.
Within the judgement, Justice Dimgba held that the disclosure of the main points of the settlement between the Nigerian authorities and Twitter is within the public curiosity, doesn’t have an effect on Twitter’s enterprise curiosity as a 3rd social gathering, and is prejudicial to Nigeria’s sovereignty and nationwide safety.
The courtroom additionally held that the settlement between the Nigerian authorities and Twitter should nonetheless be disclosed no matter the hurt to Twitter if it will be within the public curiosity to make such disclosure.
The decide additional dismissed the objections raised by the minister’s counsel and upheld SERAP’s arguments. Consequently, the courtroom entered judgment in favour of SERAP towards the minister.
Justice Dimgba maintained that the minister did not show that the president had adopted due strategy of legislation to designate Twitter as a crucial nationwide info infrastructure primarily based on the Nationwide Safety Adviser’s suggestion, and issued an order within the Federal Gazette.
He additionally acknowledged that the disclosure of the Twitter settlement is just not prejudicial to Nigeria’s sovereignty and nationwide safety or protected by the Official Secrets and techniques Act, because the minister had did not show.
The decide held, “It’s my view that the disclosure of the settlement particulars as requested by SERAP is not going to intervene with the business pursuits and commerce secrets and techniques of Twitter or result in monetary losses to it, as the previous minister has did not show the identical.
“Moreover, Part 15(4) of the Freedom of Info Act envisages solely pure and never hypothetical monetary loss or acquire to, or prejudice to, the aggressive place of or interference with contractual or different negotiation of a 3rd social gathering like Twitter which could possibly be affected by the disclosure.
“No proof was positioned earlier than this Courtroom pointing to the truth that Twitter has an settlement with one other nation as a precondition for its operation in such jurisdiction as obtainable in Nigeria.
“I consider that SERAP has a legit motive to want to be availed of the settlement, which is to grasp how the deal impacts them and different Nigerians so far as the safety of the human rights of Nigerians is worried.”
He additional contended that most often, the necessity for nationwide safety outweighs public curiosity, together with defending elementary human rights.
“On this case, nevertheless, I consider that the minister’s refusal to reveal the settlement doesn’t come inside the necessity to shield nationwide safety and sovereignty,” he added.
In line with him, the minister’s defence is based on the Cybercrimes (Prohibition and Prevention Act) 2015 however that he did not show how the Act pertains to the Twitter settlement.
Reacting to the judgement, Femi Falana, SAN, lauded the the judgement.
“We commend Justice Dimgba for this landmark judgment. It is a judicial affirmation of Nigerians’ rights to freedom of expression and entry to info on-line. We name on President Bola Tinubu’s authorities to implement the judgment instantly,” he stated.
On his half, SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare described the “ground-breaking judgement is a victory for freedom of expression and privateness on-line, which is central to attaining particular person freedom and growing democracy.
