SERAP sues Buhari, Lai Mohammed over failure to publish Twitter agreement

The civil rights and Non-governmental organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, has sued The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for failure to publish the agreement between the Federal Government and Twitter. The organisation also joined the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, as a respondent in the suit. This was revealed in a press statement made available on Sunday. In suit FHC/L/CS/238/2022 filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos, on Friday, SERAP asked the court to compel Buhari and Mohammed to make the details public. The lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi insisted that Nigerians are entitled to their human rights, peaceful assembly, and association, public participation on and off the internet. SERAP stated that Mohammed responded to its request on the grounds of the freedom of information act, but gave “completely unsatisfactory” information. The minister told them that the details of their request were “in the public space”. In its statement, the organisation argued, “It is in the interest of justice to grant this application. Publishing the agreement would enable Nigerians to scrutinise it, seek legal remedies as appropriate, and ensure that the conditions for lifting the suspension of Twitter are not used as pretext to suppress legitimate discourse. “Publishng the agreement with Twitter would promote transparency, accountability, and help to mitigate threats to Nigerians’ rights online, as well as any interference with online privacy and freedom of expression.” “Any agreement with social media companies must meet the constitutional requirements of legality, necessity, proportionality, and legitimacy. “Secretly agreed terms and conditions will fail these fundamental requirements.”