Lawmakers of the People’s Democratic Party in the House of Representatives have threatened legal action against the executive in the wake of the suspension of Twitter’s operations in the country.
The caucus also says a directive to the National Broadcasting Commission to license social media operations in the country is an attempt to introduce the unpopular “social media bill” by executive fiat—and without recourse to the legislature.
“The announcement by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture also insidiously instructed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT (Over-The-Top) and social media operations in Nigeria,” said the caucus leader Kingsley Chinda in a statement.
“As expected, this announcement has sent shockwaves amongst believers in democracy and rule of law across Nigeria and the entire world,” he said.
Chinda described the move as a gross violation of the doctrine of separation of powers and an erosion of the rule of law.
“Rude shock”
The caucus has called the suspension a rude shock.
It is the first response from lawmakers in hours following the suspension.
Civil society actors have called for more, and continued to stay on Twitter–some using virtual private networks, others managing to remain on Twitter despite the ban.
EiE Nigeria tweeted, “The struggle has just begun, & the people of this country must brace up to take their destinies into their hands. Where do the National Assembly members stand? With @Mbuhari , or on the side of democracy & their constituents who they represent? #EndSARS #TwitterBanInNigeria”
Another Tweeter posted, “Let’s be clear. This is an attack on freedom. Finding workarounds (like VPN) is exactly how we excused other failures of government by using generators, boreholes & security guards. If they get away with eroding a freedom, they always come for other freedoms. #TwitterbaninNigeria”.
