Continue Tweeting, National Assembly Minority Caucus Tells Nigerians

 

The joint minority caucus of the Senate and the House of Representatives has called on Nigerians to bypass the ban placed by the Federal Government on Twitter and proceed to use the social media platform.

The National Assembly caucus, which described the ban as draconian, decried that many Nigerians are dropping their sources of livelihood to the action.

The Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe; and Minority Leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, mentioned this in a declaration issued on Wednesday, titled ‘NASS Joint Minority Caucus Asks Nigerians to Continue Using Twitter.’

According to the statement, the joint caucus met over the ban through the All Progressives Congress authorities and “restates its condemnation of the embargo as draconian and unacceptable.”

The opposition lawmakers additionally pushed aside threats with the aid of the government to arrest and prosecute Nigerians for the use of twitter, calling on Nigerians to “go beforehand and use their Twitter (handles) as they would no longer be contravening any regulation in Nigeria or any worldwide statute.”

The lawmakers stated they understand the provisions of Articles 19 and 20 of the United Nations Charter on Fundamental Human Rights, which Nigeria is a signatory to, as nicely as provisions of Sections 39 and 36 (12) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), declaring that “by these provisions, no one will be violating any regulation for the usage of twitter in Nigeria.

The declaration partly read, “As lawmakers, the joint caucus is pained via the affliction Nigerians, mainly the youths, who locate the use of twitter as a ability of livelihood and real social interaction, are passing thru simply due to the fact the APC-led Federal Government feels slighted that an individual’s post, used to be deleted with the aid of Twitter for moral violation.

“The joint caucus, therefore, calls on Nigerians to use quite a number possibilities provided through science and proceed making use of twitter considering that such does no longer violate any regulation in our country.

“It is agonising that Nigeria and Nigerians have been dropping billions of naira on a each day foundation because the ban on Twitter. This is totally unacceptable as it is worsening the already biting financial problem and scary unemployment stage in the country.

“Moreover, the ban on Twitter in Nigeria seems to be in favour of crook and terrorist elements, whose things to do fester in an surroundings of suppressed records flow.”

The caucus sympathised with the organised personal sector, manufacturing and provider imparting companies; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; on-line groups proprietors and different tough working entrepreneurs throughout the country, “whose authentic commercial enterprise and potential of livelihood have been crippled through the unwarranted ban on Twitter through the APC Federal Government.”

The minority lawmakers additionally recognized with students, research-based organisations, media houses, the organised civil society, faith-based firms and neighborhood groups, amongst others, whose information-based things to do have been violently disrupted by way of the ban.

“In the identical vein, the joint caucus sympathises with regional, states, local government as nicely as individuals of the global community, whose proper and optimistic things to do have been crippled via the prohibition of twitter in Nigeria

“It additionally identifies with usual rulers, who have even discovered Twitter as a potential of speaking with the constituents, in particular in this technology of insecurity in the country,” the declaration added.

The Joint Caucus vehemently berates the APC-led authorities for leaving behind its obligation of addressing the serious financial and protection issues confronting our state to as an alternative center of attention on dissipating strength victimizing Nigerians over their disagreement with Twitter for deleting a publish with the aid of an individual.

The Caucus counsels the Federal Government to swallow its pride, be given its misdoing and go and settle anything problem it has with Twitter alternatively of this hotel to inflicting pains on Nigerians.