A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed October 4 to hear a suit
by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) challenging the legality of
the Federal Government’s suspension of the operations of micro
blogging and social media website, Twitter.
![image](/2021/07/Justice-Ejembi-Eko-1.jpg")
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The Incorporated Trustees of the NBA filed the suit numbered
FHC/L/CS/613/202 on June 18, following the government’s June 4
threat to prosecute Nigerians who defy the directive by continuing
to use Twitter.
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President Muhammadu Buhari; the Attorney-General of the
Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; the Minister
of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; and the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC) are first to fourth defendants,
respectively.
The NBA, via its 7 member legal team led by Dr Charles Mekwunye,
is seeking 11 reliefs.
They include, among others, a declaration that the ban or
suspension of the microblogging site is unlawful and a declaration
that any prosecution of users of the site will be
unconstitutional.
It is also seeking a declaration that the ban affects the
business, employment and economic activities of lawyers and
Nigerians generally and an order mandating all mobile network and
internet service providers to unblock the use of the microblogging
and social media site.
The Chairman of the NBA Section on Public Interest and
Development Law (NBA/SPIDEL), Monday Ubani, has a similar suit at
the Federal High Court in Lagos.
So does the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project
(SERAP) at the Federal High Court in Abuja; and 176 other Nigerians
and SERAP at the ECOWAS Court of Justice.
Last Friday, the Federal Government told a the Federal High
Court in Lagos that it had not stopped Nigerians from using
Twitter.
The government and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar
Malami stated this in a counter-affidavit deposed to in response to
an originating motion filed by human rights lawyer, Inibehe
Effiong, challenging the suspension.
In the affidavit deposed to by Mr Ilop Lawrence on behalf of the
Federal Government, Malami said the suspension of Twitter was not
an abuse of human rights because Nigerians were still using social
media platform.
It read in part, “The applicant (Effiong) and the class he seeks
to represent can still operate those Twitter accounts from anywhere
in the world and even from Nigeria. Nigerians are still tweeting,
even at this moment as the ban on Twitter is not aimed at
intimidating Nigerians or an infringement on the rights of
Nigerians to express their opinion.
“The respondents (Federal Government and AGF) have never stopped
the applicant (Effiong) and the class of persons he seeks to
represent from voicing their opinions to access government
information and offer criticism where necessary.”
Nigeria suspended Twitter after the social media platform pulled
down a tweet by President Buhari on the ground that it violated its
rules.
A few days after restricting citizens’ access to Twitter, the
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) also directed all broadcast
outfits to “suspend the patronage of Twitter immediately”,
labelling the platform as “unpatriotic”.
The legality of the government’s move has been widely questioned
and stakeholders in the civic space have moved to challenge the
controversial decision, which has sparked national outrage and
attracted international criticism for weeks.
A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed October 4 to hear a suit
by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) challenging the legality of
the Federal Government’s suspension of the operations of micro
blogging and social media website, Twitter.
The Incorporated Trustees of the NBA filed the suit numbered
FHC/L/CS/613/202 on June 18, following the government’s June 4
threat to prosecute Nigerians who defy the directive by continuing
to use Twitter.
President Muhammadu Buhari; the Attorney-General of the
Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; the Minister
of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; and the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC) are first to fourth defendants,
respectively.
The NBA, via its 7 member legal team led by Dr Charles Mekwunye,
is seeking 11 reliefs.
They include, among others, a declaration that the ban or
suspension of the microblogging site is unlawful and a declaration
that any prosecution of users of the site will be
unconstitutional.
It is also seeking a declaration that the ban affects the
business, employment and economic activities of lawyers and
Nigerians generally and an order mandating all mobile network and
internet service providers to unblock the use of the microblogging
and social media site.
The Chairman of the NBA Section on Public Interest and
Development Law (NBA/SPIDEL), Monday Ubani, has a similar suit at
the Federal High Court in Lagos.
So does the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project
(SERAP) at the Federal High Court in Abuja; and 176 other Nigerians
and SERAP at the ECOWAS Court of Justice.
Last Friday, the Federal Government told a the Federal High
Court in Lagos that it had not stopped Nigerians from using
Twitter.
The government and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar
Malami stated this in a counter-affidavit deposed to in response to
an originating motion filed by human rights lawyer, Inibehe
Effiong, challenging the suspension.
In the affidavit deposed to by Mr Ilop Lawrence on behalf of the
Federal Government, Malami said the suspension of Twitter was not
an abuse of human rights because Nigerians were still using social
media platform.
It read in part, “The applicant (Effiong) and the class he seeks
to represent can still operate those Twitter accounts from anywhere
in the world and even from Nigeria. Nigerians are still tweeting,
even at this moment as the ban on Twitter is not aimed at
intimidating Nigerians or an infringement on the rights of
Nigerians to express their opinion.
“The respondents (Federal Government and AGF) have never stopped
the applicant (Effiong) and the class of persons he seeks to
represent from voicing their opinions to access government
information and offer criticism where necessary.”
Nigeria suspended Twitter after the social media platform pulled
down a tweet by President Buhari on the ground that it violated its
rules.
A few days after restricting citizens’ access to Twitter, the
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) also directed all broadcast
outfits to “suspend the patronage of Twitter immediately”,
labelling the platform as “unpatriotic”.
The legality of the government’s move has been widely questioned
and stakeholders in the civic space have moved to challenge the
controversial decision, which has sparked national outrage and
attracted international criticism for weeks.