The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the administration of Bola Tinubu at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice over the government’s failure to withdraw what it described as unlawful mass phone-tapping regulations.
In a statement on Sunday, SERAP said the suit, marked ECW/CCJ/APP/11/26, was filed last Friday in Abuja, seeking a declaration that the government’s refusal to withdraw the “Lawful Interception of Communications Regulations, 2019” violates Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.
The legal action follows recent allegations by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who claimed that the phone conversation of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, had been intercepted.
El-Rufai reportedly alleged that the NSA’s call was tapped, adding that similar monitoring was being carried out on the communications of others.
SERAP argued in its filing that the government’s failure to withdraw the regulations amounts to an official endorsement of what it called an unlawful mass surveillance regime.
READ ALSO: SERAP To Tinubu: Withdraw Mass Phone Tapping Laws Or Face Legal Action
According to the organisation, the regulations establish a sweeping framework that permits large-scale interception of communications, which it says violates constitutionally and internationally guaranteed rights, including the rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
The group is asking the court to declare the continued enforcement of the regulations unlawful and to order the Nigerian government to immediately withdraw them.
SERAP also wants the court to compel the government to begin a legislative process that would ensure any future interception rules comply with Nigeria’s international human rights obligations.
The organisation warned that surveillance powers exercised in secrecy and without independent oversight could easily be abused against political opponents, journalists, civil society actors and election observers.
The case is now before the ECOWAS court, which is expected to determine whether the regulations violate regional and international human rights standards.