Economic Community of West African States’ Court has
declared “unlawful” the suspension of Twitter by the Federal Government.
The court also ordered the regime of the President, Muhammadu Buhari, “never to repeat it again”.
This followed a suit by Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project and 176 concerned Nigerians, according to SERAP’s Deputy
Director, Kolawole Oluwadare.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed,
announced the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria following the deletion of
Buhari’s tweet.
Then the FG also threatened to arrest and prosecute anyone
using Twitter in the country, while the National Broadcasting Commission asked
all broadcast stations to suspend the patronage of Twitter.
But in the judgment delivered on Thursday, the ECOWAS court
declared that it has the jurisdiction to hear the case, and that the case was
therefore admissible.
The Court also held that the act of suspending the operation
of Twitter is unlawful and inconsistent with the provisions of Article 9 of the
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights both of which Nigeria is a
state party.
“The Buhari
administration in suspending the operations of Twitter violates the rights of
SERAP and 176 concerned Nigerians to the enjoyment of freedom of expression,
access to information and the media, as well as the right to a fair hearing,”
the court ruled.
The Court also ordered the Buhari’s regime to take necessary
steps to align its policies and other measures to give effect to the rights and
freedoms and to guarantee a non-repetition of the unlawful ban of Twitter.
The Court also ordered Buhari’s regime to bear the costs of
the proceedings and directed the Deputy Chief Registrar to assess the costs
accordingly.
Reacting to the judgment, SERAP’s lawyer in the suit, Femi
Falana, SAN, said, “We commend the ECOWAS Court for the landmark judgment in
the case of SERAP v Federal Republic of Nigeria in which the Judges unanimously
upheld the human rights of community citizens to freedom of expression, and
access to information.
“Even though the Court had granted an interim order of
injunction last year which restrained the Attorney-General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN from prosecuting Nigerians who
defied the Twitter ban, SERAP deserves special commendation for pursuing the
matter to a logical conclusion.
“Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and the
full enjoyment of this right is central to achieving individual freedom and to
developing democracy. It is not only the cornerstone of democracy, but indispensable
to a thriving civil society.
“With the latest decision of the Court to declare the
suspension of Twitter in Nigeria illegal it is hoped that the Heads of State
and Governments of the member states of the Economic Community of West African
States will henceforth respect and uphold the human right of the community to
freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 9 of the African Charter on Human
and Peoples Rights.”
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