ECOWAS Court declares Twitter ban unlawful
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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