Reps Minority Caucus slams Nigerian govt over Twitter ban despite reversal

The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has condemned the “obnoxious and provocative” decision of the Federal Government to ban Twitter in June 2021, despite a reversal in the mandate on Wednesday.

This was contained in a statement issued on Friday by the Reps Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, who berated the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over its “aversion and intolerance to the views, opinions, and aspirations of Nigerian citizens, especially the youths on matters of state.”

“That is why at the wake of the ban on the use of Twitter in Nigeria in June 2021, the Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives forcefully condemned the decision as a provocative, obnoxious, and unjustifiable clampdown on the rights of Nigerians which also showed the APC government’s intolerance and aversion to the views, opinions, and aspirations of Nigerian citizens, especially the youths on matters of state.

READ ALSO: Nigerian celebrities react to Twitter ban lift

“It was also in the light of that that the Minority Caucus in the National Assembly stood by the law and charged Nigerians to continue using Twitter irrespective of the unconstitutional ban since they would not be contravening any known law in Nigeria or any international statutes,” Elumelu noted.

The lawmaker further charged the FG to issue an apology to “Nigerians for infringing on their rights as well as for the huge economic losses recorded as a result of the ban.”

He said, “Our caucus holds that the declaration of a lift on the ban on Twitter amounts to regulatory approval on freedom of speech, which is completely unknown to our laws. The APC government should rather be apologising to Nigerians for infringing on their rights as well as for the huge economic losses recorded as a result of the ban”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now