A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, has ordered the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Information and Culture, to publicly disclose the details of its agreement with the social media company X, (formerly known as Twitter.)
The presiding judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, while delivering judgement in a suit filed by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), and labelled FHC/L/CS/238/2022, to determine whether the details of the agreement violated the rights of Nigerians online, sided with the plaintiffs and dismissed the position of the federal government.
“It is my view that the disclosure of the agreement details as requested by SERAP will not interfere with the commercial interests and trade secrets of Twitter or lead to financial losses to it, as the former minister has failed to prove the same.
“Besides, Section 15(4) of the Freedom of Information Act envisages only natural and not hypothetical financial loss or gain to, or prejudice to, the competitive position of or interference with contractual or other negotiation of a third party like Twitter which could be affected by the disclosure.
“No evidence was placed before this Court pointing to the fact that Twitter has an agreement with another country as a precondition for its operation in such jurisdiction as obtainable in Nigeria.
“I believe that SERAP has a legitimate reason to wish to be availed of the agreement, which is to understand how the deal affects them and other Nigerians as far as the protection of the human rights of Nigerians is concerned,” Justice Dimgba said.
He further contended that in most cases, the need for national security outweighs public interest, including protecting fundamental human rights.
“In this case, however, I believe that the minister’s refusal to disclose the agreement does not come within the need to protect national security and sovereignty,” he added.
According to him, the minister’s defence is predicated on the Cybercrimes (Prohibition and Prevention Act) 2015 but that he failed to prove how the Act relates to the Twitter agreement.
The Deputy director of SERAP, Kolawole Oluwadare described the “ground-breaking judgement is a victory for freedom of expression and privacy online, which is central to achieving individual freedom and developing democracy.
Also reacting to the judgement, prominent human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), said “We commend Justice Dimgba for this landmark judgment. This is a judicial confirmation of Nigerians’ rights to freedom of expression and access to information online. We call on President Bola Tinubu’s government to implement the judgment immediately,” he said.
