The Federal High Court in Lagos has mandated former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to reveal the details of the agreement between the Nigerian Government and Twitter (now X) that led to the lifting of the social media ban during Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, who delivered the judgment in May 2024, emphasized the public’s right to know the specifics of this agreement. The Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) had pushed for this transparency, arguing that the agreement might infringe on Nigerians’ online human rights.
SERAP’s legal action aimed to uncover the agreement’s details, with concerns about potential human rights violations. Meanwhile, Mohammed argued that disclosing the agreement could harm Twitter’s business interests. However, Justice Dimgba ruled that the agreement’s disclosure was in the public interest, dismissing concerns about business harm or national security.
The Federal Government banned Twitter on June 4, 2021, after the platform deleted a controversial tweet by then-President Buhari. This ban lasted 222 days until it was lifted in January 2022. During this period, ex-minister Lai Mohammed claimed that Twitter negotiated with the government, a claim disputed by a former Twitter official.