The ECOWAS Court held that the act of suspending the operation of Twitter is unlawful and inconsistent with the provisions of Article 9 of the African Charter
By Jude-Ken Ojinnaka
The ECOWAS Court on Thursday declared as unlawful, the suspension of Twitter by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, and ordered the administration never to repeat such act again.
The ECOWAS judgement followed a suit filed by a human rights and advocacy group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned Nigerians, challenging the suspension of Twitter by the Federal Government.
Recall that following the deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed announced the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.
The government also threatened to arrest and prosecute anyone using Twitter in the country, while the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) asked all broadcast stations to suspend the patronage of Twitter.
But in the judgment delivered Thursday, the ECOWAS court declared that it has the jurisdiction to hear the case, adding 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.
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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 further ordered the Buhari administration 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.
Besides, 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.
Reacting to the judgement, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and counsel to SERAP in the suit, Femi Falana, said, “We commend the ECOWAS Court for the landmark judgement in the case of SERAP vs 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 community to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.”
Recall that SERAP and 176 concerned Nigerians had in suit No ECW/CCJ/APP/23/21 filed before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, sought: “An order of interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from implementing its suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, and subjecting anyone including media houses, broadcast stations using Twitter in Nigeria, to harassment, intimidation, arrest and criminal prosecution, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”
