Nigeria’s House of Representatives has agreed to allow time for the federal government time to negotiate with Twitter over the suspension of the latter’s operations in Nigeria.
The Assembly took the decision following adoption of report of its Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Value, Telecommunication, Information Technology, Justice, and National Security and Intelligence, on the matter.
Chairman of the committee on information, national orientation, ethics and value, Segun Odebunmi, presented the report, which was adopted by the Committee of the Whole.
The report was considered by Committee of the Whole, presided by Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase.
The adopted recommendations are as follows:
-That time be allowed for the Federal Government of Nigeria and Twitter to enter into the dialogue process that is already ongoing, so as to create room for amicable settlement on the matter.
-That relevant Government Institutions such as National Broadcasting Commission, Nigeria Communication Satellite, etc. should be alive to their mandate by doing the proper thing to avoid future occurrence of this nature.
-That the Federal Government should take into cognisance the negative effect of the Twitter’s suspension on Nigerians who depend on the platform for their livelihood
-That Federal Government should be proactive in their interface with Twitter so as to come up with a timely resolution on the matter
-That Freedom of expression is not absolute anywhere in the world. This is because security and freedom of expression sometimes present contending interests. Therefore, national security must be guaranteed at all times as much as the right to free speech must be protected. That Government should always have communicated better with Nigerians when critical decisions are to be made.
Nigeria banned Twitter from operations in the country on June 4, citing threats to national security.
Reacting to public outcry, the House of Reps on June 8 mandated joint committees to investigate the matter, which led to invitation of Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed to appear before the committee for explanations on position of the government.
However, recently the government named a team that will meet with Twitter on the matter.
