The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Tuesday dragged President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) before the Federal High Court in Lagos over the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.
Sued along with the duo are the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the Minister of Communications and Culture, Lai Mohammed.
The association in its suit marked FHC/L/CS/613/2021 said the actions and directives of the respondents “gravely infringed the fundamental rights of the applicant.”
The NBA said there was no law in the country that criminalised the use of the microblogging site.
The Federal Government had on June 4 suspended Twitter’s operations in the country, alleging that the activities of the microblogging site were undermining the corporate existence of the country.
The government’s action drew condemnations from Nigeria’s allies, which argued that the government action infringes on the fundamental human rights of the citizens.
The government however said it would lift the ban if Twitter and other social media platforms pay their taxes to Nigeria, among other conditions.
In its suit, the NBA said the respondents “unilaterally, without due process and contrary to the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the applicant, suspended the operations of the microblogging and social media website.”
It, therefore, prayed the court to rule that the ban on Twitter is “a violent breach of the applicant’s right to freedom of expression and the press, guaranteed under sections 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended 2011), articles 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, 1983 as well as Articles 19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights”.
The NBA also prayed the court to stop the government from prosecuting and jail any Nigerian found using the microblogging site within Nigeria’s cyberspace.
It also prayed for an order “setting aside the purported directives/fiat/order” issued by the respondents banning the use of the microblogging site in the Nigerian cyberspace.
