Members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives on Tuesday have described the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria as ill-timed and dictatorial.
Nigerian government had on June 4 through the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, suspended Twitter operations on the grounds that the platform was undermining the country’s corporate existence.
The following day, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, directed the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in his ministry to begin the process of prosecuting violators of the suspension order.
The Federal Government’s action was heavily criticised by groups and nations including the Nigerian Bar Association, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Lately, Nigerian government, in a statement said a team has been raised to negotiate with Twitter. According to the statement, the negotiations will be led by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed.
Other members of the team are the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Malami; the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo.
As the Federal Government set to begin negotiations with Twitter, the executive arm of government and some members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives on Tuesday disagreed over the suspension.
The House of Representatives’ committees on communications; justice; information and culture; and national security and intelligence, grilled Lai Mohammed over the government action.
At the investigative hearing organised by the committees, Mohammed listed the various legal provisions backing the action by the government.
The minister stated that national security superseded other considerations such as fundamental human rights.
Several members of the committee, however, criticised the timing and the selective action against Twitter, noting that other social media platforms were also allegedly guilty of the same offences listed by the government.
Mohammed explained the legal backing for the action against Twitter, saying, “It is true that many Nigerians have accused the Federal Government of an attempt to stifle the media and free speech, and we say not at all. There is absolutely no attempt on the part of government to stifle free speech and the media.
“While it is true that sections 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41 of the constitution actually provide for freedom of speech, it is actually qualified by Section 45 of the same constitution, which is to the effect that nothing in these sections shall invalidate any law that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health or for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedom of other people.
“The only reason why we suspended the operation of Twitter was because it was promoting disunity in Nigeria and therefore became a national security risk. The provisions of Section 45 of the Constitution leave no one in doubt that the provision of Section 39 of the Constitution on freedom of expression is not absolute. The right of freedom of expression within the contemplation of Section 39 makes it a qualified right in line with Section 45, which permits restriction of civil liberty in the public interest.”
Mohammed also cited Section 3 of the National Security Act from where the Department of State Services draws the powers to preserve the internal security of Nigeria. “It is very instructive that any platform that threatens the internal security of Nigeria will not be allowed to operate,” he stated.
The minister referred to Twitter’s influence in the #EndSARS protests to back his claim, adding that the platform played “a very unsavoury role by making available its platform to retweet the messages of the #EndSARS protesters and also raised funds for the #EndSARS protesters.
The minister said despite the banning of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Twitter was being used by the secessionist group to direct “its people” to kill security agents.
The minister stressed that the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, especially Section 78(1), also supported the suspension of Twitter operations.
As they listened to him, the lawmakers, nevertheless, faulted some of the issues raised by the Minister.
A member, Shaba Ibrahim (PDP/Kogi) said he agreed with the minister that national interest and security were at stake.
The lawmaker said: “Beautiful as it is, I just wonder if in the consideration of that ban, you took into cognizance, the coincidence of Mr President’s tweet and Twitter’s action, and the impression it created on the minds of millions of Nigerians and indeed the entire world.
“I say this because sometimes there is what you call ‘claim of right made in bad faith.’ You may well have a legal platform upon which to anchor that action but the circumstances are (the reasons) why you have everybody alluding to the (similar) action taken (by Twitter) against (President Donald) Trump.”
“If you have been proactive, with due respect, you wouldn’t have allowed all these infractions to go unchecked, until the President’s tweet was taken down. I think, with all due respect, that was a disservice to us.
“We are at the mercy of people who handle social media irresponsibly. All it took to wake to that responsibility was for Twitter to bring down Mr President’s tweet. With all due respect sir, I don’t think that was good enough.
“I agree that no right is in absolute terms. But, again, we must mind the timing of it so that proactive actions are taken to nip these things in the bud. Because what you have done, whether you like it or not, looks like symptoms of emerging totalitarianism. And that is why everyone is shouting blue murder.”
Other members of Nigerian Reps – Chinedu Ogar (APC/Ebonyi), Olatunji Shoyinka (PDP/Lagos), Aniekan Umanah, from Akwa Ibom; also disagreed with the Minister on the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.