SERAP sues FG, Lai Muhammed over directive to broadcasters to stop using Twitter
The suit followed the order by the National Broadcasting
Commission (NBC) asking TV and radio stations to “suspend the patronage of
Twitter immediately”, and telling them to delete ‘unpatriotic’ Twitter, after
the social media giant was banned in the country for deleting President
Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet.
In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/496/2021 filed last Friday,
SERAP is seeking: “an order of perpetual injunction restraining the government
of President Buhari, the NBC, and Mr Lai Muhammed and any other persons from
censoring, regulating, licensing and controlling the social media operations
and contents by broadcast stations, and activities of social media service
providers in Nigeria.”
In the suit, SERAP is also seeking “an order setting aside
the directive by NBC and Mr Lai Muhammed asking broadcast stations to stop
using Twitter, as it is unconstitutional, unlawful, inconsistent and
incompatible with the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 [as amended], and the
country’s obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
SERAP is arguing that “The government of President Buhari,
the NBC and Mr Lai Muhammed have consistently made policies and given
directives to crackdown on media freedom, and the rights of Nigerians to
freedom of expression and access to information, and to impose crippling fines
and other sanctions on broadcast stations without any legal basis whatsoever.”
According to SERAP: “The court has an important role to play
in the protection and preservation of the rule of law to ensure that persons
and institutions operate within the defined ambit of constitutional and
statutory limitations.”
SERAP is also arguing that “Where agencies of government are
allowed to operate at large and at their whims and caprices in the guise of
performing their statutory duties, the end result will be anarchy,
licentiousness, authoritarianism and brigandage leading to the loss of the much
cherished and constitutionally guaranteed freedom and liberty.”
According to SERAP: “By using the National Broadcasting Act
and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code to stop broadcast stations from using Twitter
without recourse to the court, the NBC and Mr Lai Muhammed have contravened the
right to access to justice and fair hearing guaranteed under sections 6[1]
& [6][b] and 36[1] of the Nigerian Constitution 1999, and articles 1 and 7
of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”
The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole
Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Opeyemi Owolabi, read in part: “The directive by
the NBC and Mr Lai Muhammed to broadcasters to delete their Twitter accounts is
unlawful, as it amounts to a fundamental breach of the principle of legality,
the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom,
and incompatible with the country’s international human rights obligations.
“SERAP and concerned Nigerians are entitled to the rights to
freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom subject only to
lawful restrictions. SERAP and concerned Nigerians frequently rely on the
Twitter handles of many broadcast stations as sources of information for our
activities in the promotion of transparency and accountability in the country.
“Nigeria is a state party to the African Charter on Human
and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, which impose legal obligations on the government of President Buhari to
ensure that the rights of Nigerians to freedom of expression, access to
information and media freedom are respected, promoted, protected, fulfilled,
and not unlawfully restricted.
“The NBC and Mr Lai Muhammed have not shown any law breached
by journalists, broadcast stations and media houses in Nigeria, and the
government of President Buhari cannot use any disagreement with Twitter as a
ploy to violate Nigerians’ rights, and undermine their individual businesses
and professional duties.
“The drafters of the Nigerian Constitution well knew the
danger inherent in special executive and legislative acts which take away the
life, liberty, or property of particular named persons. They intended to
safeguard the people of this country from punishment without trial by duly
constituted courts. These principles are so fundamental and must be respected.
“The directive to broadcast stations has seriously undermined the ability of Nigerians and other people in the country to freely express themselves in a democracy, and undermined the ability of journalists, media houses, broadcast stations, and other people to freely carry out their professional duties.
“The Twitter accounts
by broadcast stations and media houses are their own properties acquired upon
privity of terms and conditions formulated by the Twitter Inc. and accepted by
the stations and media houses.”
SERAP is also asking the Federal High Court for the
following reliefs:
*A declaration that the directive by the NBC and Mr Lai
Muhammed to broadcast stations in Nigeria to deactivate their Twitter handles
and desist from using Twitter as a source of information gathering is unlawful,
and amounts to a breach of the principles of legality and no punishment without
law, and violation of the rights to freedom of expression, access to
information, and media freedom guaranteed under sections 39 and 22 of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 [as amended], Article 9 of
the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
*A declaration that the acts of the NBC and Mr Lai Muhammed
in relying on the National Broadcasting Act and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code
to unilaterally direct broadcast stations to delete their Twitter handles and
desist from using Twitter without recourse to the court amount to infringement
on sections 6[1] & [6][b], 36 and 44[1] of the Nigerian Constitution of
1999 [as amended], Articles 1 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights.
*A declaration that the provision of section 2[1][r] of the
National Broadcasting Act and sections 5.6.3, 5.11.3 of the Nigeria
Broadcasting Code being inconsistent and incompatible with sections 36[1], 39
and 22 of the Nigerian Constitution, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human
and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights are null and void to the extent of their inconsistency and
incompatibility.
* A declaration that the NBC and Mr Lai Muhammed lack the
power and authority to unlawfully impose penalty such as fines and other
sanctions on any journalists and broadcast stations for using Twitter, and
refusing/failing to deactivate their Twitter handles.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
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