JUST IN: Tinubu Dragged to ECOWAS Court, Details Emerge

• SERAP has filed a court case against the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Nigeria’s 36 state governors
• SERAP said it is concerned over “the repressive use of the Cybercrimes Act 2024 to criminalise legitimate expression and violate the human rights of Nigerians, including activists, journalists, bloggers and social media users”
• TheTalk.NG gathered that the suit was filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers, Andrew Nwankwo and Adelanke Aremo

TheTalk.NG journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering public affairs, elections, and governance.

FCT, Abuja – The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the administration of President Bola Tinubu at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice in Abuja.

TheTalk.NG reports that the non-governmental organisation (NGO) also sued Nigeria’s 36 governors.

SERAP tackles Tinubu’s govt

The legal matter was over the alleged “repressive use of the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024 to criminalise legitimate expression and violate the human rights of Nigerians, including activists, journalists, bloggers and social media users.”

In the suit, SERAP is challenging “the legality and compatibility of the provisions of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2024 with the rights to freedom of expression and information.”

SERAP’s statement on Sunday, January 12, 2025, partly reads:

“Rather than using the amended legislation to make cyberspace and its users safer, Nigerian authorities are routinely weaponising it to curb Nigerians’ human rights and media freedom.”

SERAP added:

“Since the amendment of the Cybercrime Act in 2024, Nigerian authorities at all levels have consistently used the provisions of the Cybercrime Act to harass, intimidate, arbitrarily arrest and detain and unfairly prosecute users of social media, activists, journalists, and bloggers solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights.”

“Stories published online have been deemed ‘offensive’, ‘obstructive’, ‘insulting’ or ‘annoying’ with actionable consequences under provisions of section 24 of the Cybercrime (Amendment) Act 2024 even when the stories are true and factual.”

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

Read more on SERAP:

SERAP files suit against INEC boss

Earlier, TheTalk.NG reported that SERAP filed a contempt lawsuit against Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

SERAP filed the suit against the INEC boss “for failing to investigate the allegations of electoral offences committed during the 2023 general elections, identify suspected perpetrators, and their sponsors, and ensure their effective prosecution.”

In a statement signed by SERAP deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, obtained by TheTalk.NG, the NGO said despite the service of the certified true copy of the judgment on INEC and Prof Yakubu, “they have failed and/or refused to obey it.”

Source: TheTalk.NG

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