Twitter ban: Reps summon Lai Mohammed, as PDP caucus stage walkout
…Malami to decide prosecution of Adeboye, Kumuyi — Minister
By Ayo Fadimu
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives yesterday staged a walkout over the refusal of the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, to grant their prayer on the Federal Government’s Twitter Ban.
Gbajabiamila had earlier asked relevant committees of the House to investigate the matter within 10 days.
However, a member of the caucus, Kingsley Chinda, had raised a point of order to make an additional prayer that the House asks the Federal Government to lift the ban pending when the House carries out the probe.
Chinda noted that the implication is that the ban would remain for 10 days, which means the rights of Nigerians would be kept in abeyance during the period.
However, Speaker Gbajabiamila cited part of the Standing Orders of the House stating that a matter that had been concluded by the parliament cannot be revisited for a debate.
The Speaker, therefore, ruled Chinda out of order, a decision that did not go down well the members of the opposition.
Insisting on speaking and several leaders of the House shutting him down, Chinda led other PDP members out of the chamber.
They later addressed journalists to say the action was in defence of Nigerians.
Before the PDP caucus walked out, the House of Representatives had mandated its Committees on Communication, Justice, Information and Culture, and National Security and Intelligence to begin investigation into the suspension placed on Twitter by the Federal Government.
Gbajabiamila constituted the committee at the resumption of the plenary session of the House on Tuesday in Abuja.
Gbajabiamila added that the committees should Invite the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed to brief the House on the objectives, intent, and duration of the suspension on the operations of Twitter in Nigeria.
He said that the move was in the service of its obligations under the constitution and its moral duty to the Nigerian people.
He said that the committees were to investigate the circumstances of the decision by the Federal Government to suspend the operations of Twitter in Nigeria
He added that the committees should also investigate the legal authority for the ban on the operations of Twitter in the country.
He gave the committees ten days within which to report to the House, adding that the report of the committees would guide further action by the House on the matter.
The Speaker urged the committees to act with speed and sound judgment to address the issue that has animated national conversations over the last few days.
He stated that the suspension on Twitter in Nigeria had generated fierce debate, adding that members had since the announcement been inundated with comments about the decision, requests for intervention and criticism.
According to him, “The House of Representatives recognise that Twitter, like other social media networks, is an important tool for communication and commerce in Nigeria.
“Particularly amongst the younger generation who have used these networks for enterprise and innovation with great success.”
He said the House also recognised that as social media has been a tool for good, it can also be a tool for bad actors.
“As such, the government has a legitimate interest in ensuring that these platforms are not used to commit vile actions against individuals and the State.”
He said that the proper role of the legislature in circumstances was first to peel back the layers of the decision-making process to unravel the issues until it developed an understanding of the why and the how of executive decisions.
Meanwhile, Lai Mohammed said the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, will decide whether or not to prosecute the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye; the Founder and General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry Worldwide, Pastor William Kumuyi; as well as other violators of the Twitter ban by the Federal Government.
Mohammed made this known on Monday evening during an interview with BBC News Africa.
Nigerian NewsDirect reported that the two respected Clergies among others including Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde, Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu among others dared the Federal government’s directive and tweeted on the micro-blog platform.
Pastor Adeboye, in a tweet on Monday, had said his church is present in over 170 countries and tweeting is in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Similarly, Pastor Kumuyi also tweeted that his church has branches across over 100 countries and five continents hence it can tweet from anywhere in the world.
However, Mohammed while responding to the question whether the government would prosecute Kumuyi and Adeboye for defying its Twitter ban, the minister said, “The Attorney-General has made it clear that if anybody violates the regulation that such a person will be prosecuted and this is not about any particular person. It is in the realm of the Attorney-General to decide who or who not to prosecute.”
Apparently, responding to Pastor Adeboye’s tweet, Mohammed insisted there would be no human rights if the country goes on fire.
“It is because there is a country called Nigeria that they have rights at all. If the country goes on fire, and there is insecurity everywhere, then, there will be no rights for anybody,” he said.
When confronted by the interviewer that there is already insecurity in Nigeria, the minister said, “Of course, there is.”
“Are we supposed to use Twitter to increase insecurity?” Mohammed asked, adding that agents of destruction have chosen Twitter as a platform to destabilise the corporate existence of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit against the government of President Muhammadu Buhari over “the unlawful suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, criminalization of Nigerians and other people using Twitter, and the escalating repression of human rights, particularly the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom in the country.”
Following the removal of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed last week announced the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria. The government has also threatened to arrest and prosecute anyone using Twitter in the country, while the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has asked all broadcast stations to suspend the patronage of Twitter.
In the suit No ECW/CCJ/APP/23/21 filed today before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, SERAP and the concerned Nigerians are seeking: “An order of interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from implementing its suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, and subjecting anyone including media houses, broadcast stations using Twitter in Nigeria, to harassment, intimidation, arrest and criminal prosecution, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”
In the suit filed by Solicitor to SERAP, Femi Falana SAN, the Plaintiffs contend that “if this application is not urgently granted, the Federal Government will continue to arbitrarily suspend Twitter and threaten to impose criminal and other sanctions on Nigerians, telecommunication companies, media houses, broadcast stations and other people using Twitter in Nigeria, the perpetual order sought in this suit might be rendered nugatory.”
The suit, read in part: “The suspension of Twitter is aimed at intimidating and stopping Nigerians from using Twitter and other social media platforms to assess government policies, expose corruption, and criticize acts of official impunity by the agents of the Federal Government.”
“The free communication of information and ideas about public and political issues between citizens and elected representatives is essential. This implies a free press and other media able to comment on public issues without censor or restraints, and to inform public opinion. The public also has a corresponding right to receive media output.
“Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and the full enjoyment of this right is central to achieving individual freedom and to developing democracy. It is not only the cornerstone of democracy, but indispensable to a thriving civil society.
“The arbitrary action by the Federal Government and its agents have negatively impacted millions of Nigerians who carry on their daily businesses and operational activities on Twitter. The suspension has also impeded the freedom of expression of millions of Nigerians, who criticize and influence government policies through the microblogging app.
“The suspension of Twitter is arbitrary, and there is no law in Nigeria today permitting the prosecution of people simply for peacefully exercising their human rights through Twitter and other social media platforms.
“The suspension and threat of prosecution by the Federal Government constitute a fundamental breach of the country’s international human rights obligations including under Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.
“The suspension has seriously undermined the ability of Nigerians and other people in the country to freely express themselves in a democracy, and undermined the ability of journalists, media houses, broadcast stations, and other people to freely carry out their professional duties.
“A lot of Nigerians at home and abroad rely on Twitter coverage of topical issues of public interest to access impartial, objective and critical information about ideas and views on how the Nigerian government is performing its constitutional and international human rights obligations.
“The implication of the decline in freedom of expression in Nigeria is that the country is today ranked alongside countries hostile to human rights and media freedom such as Afghanistan, Chad, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe and Colombia.”
