By Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has unblocked popular human rights lawyer Festus Ogun after the duo met at a meeting at Lagos House, Marina, on Friday.
The lawyer who recently accused Sanwo-Olu of infringing on his fundamental human rights revealed this in a post on his X handle on Saturday. He added that the meeting was facilitated after the governor personally invited him for a brief meeting to address his complaints.
Ogun, who attended the meeting in the company of his lawyer, said that the governor took time to explain the circumstances surrounding his blocking on X.
He wrote, “Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has unblocked me on X (Twitter). I met briefly with him yesterday at Lagos House Marina, on his invitation, to amicably resolve my complaint of human rights violations. We will continue to hold authorities accountable, regardless. Aluta continua!.”
Darelasisionline.com reports that the human rights advocate, in his argument, urged the court to compel the governor to unblock him and issue a public apology to him.
He lamented that due to the Governor’s action, he has been unable to access public updates and information about the policies and governance in Lagos. Ogun described the action of Sanwo-Olu as a violation of his right to receive information.
“It is my case that blocking me on X has prevented me from accessing public updates and receiving information about policies and governance in Lagos (since he uses the X account to post only official, policies and governance matters which constitutes a violation of my right to receive information without interference, subsumed under the right to freedom of expression.”
“Also, by blocking me owing to my criticism of his administration and my demand for transparency, the Governor has violated my fundamental rights to freedom from discrimination on the basis of political viewpoint or opinion. I invited the Nigerian court to be persuaded by the decision of the US District Court in Knight First Amendment Institute v Trump where President Trump was found to be in violation of the 1st Amendment when he blocked US citizens for criticising him on Twitter. I feel haunted, traumatized and emotionally disturbed by the knowledge that the Governor of Lagos State, where I live and work as a legal practitioner, has targeted, singled me out and blocked me on X.”
Reacting to the move by the governor, a lawyer, Ridwan Oke, praised Sanwo-Olu for having a listening ear, even though he is often described as a weak governor. He reminded those against the reconciliation that Sanwo-Olu is not only a governor to his party members but to all Lagosians.
“Some people actually see Gov. Sanwo-Olu as a weak Governor because he has a listening ear. The Governor is not only a Governor to his party members, he’s a Governor to all. And whether you like it or not, he will take steps to relate with everyone as he deems fit no matter what you think. Governor Sanwo-Olu meeting Festus is a very good move and it shows that he has a listening ear. If you have issues with that, maybe you should get a grip on your feelings,” Oke wrote on his X page.
