It can be recalled that after the deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet, the minister of information, Lai mohammed, announced the “indefinite” suspension of Twitter’s operations in Nigeria.
According to him, the social media platform was engaging in activities that “undermine Nigeria’s existence”.
Abubakar Malami, the former attorney-general of the federation, also threatened to arrest and prosecute anyone who violated the ban. While the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) asked broadcast stations to stop the patronage of twitter.
On July 6, the court consolidated different suits instituted against the federal government for banning Twitter.
In the ruling on Thursday, the court held that the federal government of Nigeria’s ban on Twitter is unlawful.
The consolidated suits are; Malcolm Omirhobo who approached the ECOWAS court of justice, in suit ECW/CCJ/APP/26/21, challenging the ban as a violation of his fundamental rights to freedom of expression, speech and association and those of the Nigerian public.
Following the suit by the Social Economic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned Nigerians, the ECOWAS Court has “declared unlawful the suspension of Twitter by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, and ordered the administration never to repeat it again.”
This development was disclosed today by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare.
According to the Court, “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 fair hearing.”
The Court also ordered the Buhari-led administration to take needed 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 the Buhari administration to bear the costs of the proceedings and directed the Deputy Chief Registrar to assess the costs accordingly.