Amnesty International, the Nigerian Bar Association, the Peoples Democratic party among other stakeholder public have asked the Federal Government to reverse its decision to suspend the operations of the social media platform, Twitter, in Nigeria.
In a statement issued on Twitter, Amnesty International also urged the Federal Government to suspend plans to gag the media.
The tweet thread reads:
Amnesty International condemns the Nigerian government’s suspension of Twitter @Twitter in #Nigeria?? — a social media widely used by Nigerians to exercise their human rights, including their rights to freedom of expression and access to information. #TwitterBan
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— Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) June 4, 2021
We call on the #Nigerian authorities to immediately reverse the unlawful suspension and other plans to gag the media, repress the civic space, and undermine Nigerians’ human rights. #TwitterBan
— Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) June 4, 2021
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This action is clearly inconsistent and incompatible with Nigeria’s international obligations including under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. #TwitterBan #Nigeria
— Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) June 4, 2021
Twitter ban: No constitutional authority to support FG’s peremptory action – NBA
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has said that there is no constitutional nor legal authority that supports the ban of Twitter by the Federal Government.
NBA President, Olumide Akpata disclosed this in a statement on Friday night.
Akapata described the government’s decision as illegal and threatened to challenge in court, the decision of the government to suspend the operations of the microblogging site.
Twitter had deleted a post by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, and this prompted the government to announce a ban.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension earlier on Friday, citing the “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
The minister’s statement was silent regarding the time that the ban would be enforced however, the pronouncement stirred various reactions locally and internationally, with the NBA arguing that the ban infringes on the right Nigerians to freely express their constitutionally guaranteed opinions through Twitter.
Below is the statement put out by the President of the NBA.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has noted with great concern the extraordinary decision of the Federal Government of Nigeria to suspend the operations of Twitter in Nigeria and, by necessary implication, the right of Nigerians to freely express their constitutionally guaranteed opinions through that medium.
The Federal Government also directed the Nigerian Communications Commission to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria, which is, at best, yet another disguised attempt to regulate social media, restrict freedom of speech and shrink civic space.
Whether one likes it or not, we are operating a constitutional democracy, the primary consequence of which is that every thing must be done according to law; and government must be conducted within the framework of recognised rules and principles which restrict discretionary power.
The Nigerian Bar Association finds no constitutional or legal authority to support the peremptory action of the Federal Government to suspend the operations of Twitter in Nigeria and deprive Nigerians of their right to freely express their constitutionally guaranteed opinions. Beyond the dent on our constitutional democracy, at a time when the Nigerian economy is unarguably struggling, the impact of arbitrary decisions such as this on investor confidence is better imagined.
Consequently, if this decision is not immediately reversed, the Nigerian Bar Association will have no choice but to challenge same in the interest of the public and our democracy.
Olumide Akpata.
President, Nigeria Bar Association.
Twitter suspension: ”Halt this international shame ”- PDP tells Buhari
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the decision of the Federal government to suspend the operation of Twitter in Nigeria as an international shame and has called on the President to immediately rescind it.
The party shared its thought in a statement released by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbodiyan.
In the statement, the party reminded President Buhari that it was on the same Twitter that he used to campaign for President in 2015 and 2019.
Read the statement below
<blockquote>”The party said it vehemently rejects the unwarranted suspension of the social media platform, Twitter, by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government, describing it as a draconian action and a slide towards a fascist regime in our country.
The party asserts that the suspension of twitter, is a vexatious, condemnable and barbaric move to muzzle Nigerians, particularly the youths, ostensibly to prevent them from holding the overtly corrupt, vindictive and divisive Buhari administration accountable for its atrocities, including human right violations, patronizing of terrorists and outright suppressive acts against innocent Nigerians.
Our party is appalled that the Federal Government could exhibit such primitive intolerance and power intoxication because the social media giant demonstrated international best practices in not allowing the Buhari presidency to use Twitter as a platform to propagate and spread the Buhari administration’s hatred towards Nigerians.
The PDP insists that rather than being a platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence, as claimed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, Nigerians, particularly the youths, have been using the social media platform, largely, for activities that promote unity, as well as social, economic and commercial interaction in our country.
Our party notes that Mr. Lai Mohammed, in his statement, failed to cite an example of where Nigerians used Twitter as a platform to promote acts that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence as he claimed.
Of course, the failure to give any such instance, confirms that the Federal Government is only out to victimize Nigerians.
The Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration are only afraid of Nigerians on Twitter because of their evil machinations for which they dread the Nigerian youths.
Moreover, freedom of speech is firmly guaranteed in our constitution and the Buhari administration should be ready to face Nigerians over its misrule.
In the case of any infringement, our nation has adequate extant laws to deal with such and not this move to gag the people.
The PDP therefore charges President Buhari to end this assault against Nigerians by immediately and unconditionally rescinding its decision to ban Twitter, as such amounts to pushing our citizens to the wall.
Afterall, it was the same Twitter that provided President Buhari and the APC the platform to campaign in 2015 and 2019.
It is also on record that President Buhari would not be the first President in the world whose tweet would be deleted.
When it happened to former US President Donald Trump, he was not known to have deployed any act coercion against Twitter.
Our party invites President Buhari to halt this international shame by rescinding this ugly decision.”</blockquote>