Public Law and Social Media Governance: A Professional Assessment of the National Information Technology Development Agency’s Regulatory Role

The National Information Technology Development Agency plays a central role in Nigeria's digital governance landscape, exercising regulatory authority over information technology development, data protection implementation, and increasingly, the governance of social media platforms operating within Nigeria. NITDA's regulatory actions, including directives to Twitter following the government-ordered Twitter ban in 2021 and the social media influencer registration initiative, have generated significant public law debate about the boundaries of its statutory mandate and its compatibility with constitutional freedom of expression. This study professionally examines the NITDA Act's statutory scope, the Agency's regulatory interventions in social media governance, and their constitutional and public law implications. A doctrinal methodology is applied, reviewing the NITDA Act 2007 and its 2016 amendment, NITDA administrative orders and guidelines, the Twitter ban executive directive and its legal basis, judicial decisions challenging NITDA directives, and comparative analysis from Singapore and the European Union. The study evaluates whether NITDA's regulatory interventions in social media governance fall within its statutory competence or constitute ultra vires executive action. Available digital governance literature from Nigeria identifies the absence of a dedicated social media regulation statute and reliance on NITDA's broad mandate as the primary legal uncertainty in digital governance enforcement. The Ultra Vires Doctrine and the Digital Freedoms Framework provide the analytical reference. Recommendations address a dedicated Social Media Regulation Bill and proportionate NITDA enforcement standards. Keywords: NITDA, social media governance, digital regulation, constitutional law, Nigeria.