By Chioma Iruke
Nigerian Lawmakers have thrown their weight behind the Prsident Muhammadu Buhari-led government’s decision to ban microblogging app, Twitter.
According to the Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, the decision to back the action of the government was to protect national security.
Mr Gbajabiamila stated this on over the weekend during a Channels TV programme.
Recall that Gbajabiamila had initially refused to comment on the issue prior to his latest comment on the Twitter ban by Buhari.
While speaking on Channels TV, Mr Gbajabiamila argued that while Nigerians elected federal legislators to represent them, the lawmakers had a responsibility to defend policies implemented to protect the country’s national security.
“We are elected by the people to represent them, and ordinarily, we should be on their side. But this is not a beauty contest. You must listen to all sides. The government says Twitter poses a threat to national security. What are the information available to them that we are not privy to?
“They have also said that it is not about the president’s tweet which was taken down but a mere coincidence. We are listening to the government because we have heard from the people,” he explained.
“We agree that there is freedom of speech, but the government is saying that freedom is not absolute. Even at that, freedom can be protected but not at the instance of the country. I am happy that Twitter and the government are already talking. In the end, I hope that the issue will be resolved in the best way possible,” he added.
Earlier on June 8, Mr Gbajabiamila shut down a point of order to lobby the federal government to lift the Twitter ban. The point of order raised by Kingsley Chinda (PDP-Rivers) asked the House to lobby Mr Buhari’s regime to lift the Twitter ban.
