ECOWAS judgement on Nigeria’s Twitter ban

ECOWAS judgement on Nigeria’s Twitter ban
A group of Nigerian’s CSO ‘Civil Society Organisation’, Media Rights Agenda, has admonished the Federal Government Nigeria to keenly take notable steps to implement the decision of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, over the deferment of Twitter in Nigeria since the year 2021.

She stated that ‘the light of the requirements and the judgment of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, Nigeria was strictly under a legal compulsion to modify its laws and guidelines to convey them into orthodoxy with the ICCPR and the African Charter as well as to duly guarantee that the suspension of Twitter would not happen again, as directed by the Community Court of Justice.

‘The significant directive made by the Court of justice in its decision, is that court instructed the Federal Government to lift the ban of the social media ‘Twitter’ since the suspension was in violation of Article 9 of the African Charter and Article 19 of the ICCPR constitution’. Okonkwo stated

“It also instructed the Federal government to take necessary decision to align its guidelines and other decisive procedures to give outcome to the rights and freedoms cherished in the African Charter and the ICCPR.

“The Court of justice further directed the Federal Government to commence an act of legislative or other processes on its rules concerning the Social media ‘Twitter’ to allow the satisfaction of the right to freedom of expression assured under the African Charter and asked it to warrant a non-recurrence of the illegal ban of Twitter.

“Most importantly, it has well-ordered Nigeria to warrant the illegal ban of Twitter would not repeat itself again”.
However, according to her, the Community court of Justice’s orders were enclosed in its decision in four combined suits issued by MRA, other NGO’S ‘Non-Governmental Organisations’, reporter’s, and some Nigerian citizens who have been challenging the Federal Government’s June 2021 pronouncement to ban the access to Twitter in Nigeria.