On Wednesday the joint minority caucus of the National Assembly urged users of suspended microblogging platform, Twitter to ignore the decision of the Federal Government and continue using the medium.
Recall that the FG had last Friday suspended the operation of Twitter in Nigeria for allegedly allowing contents that are capable of threatening the corporate existence of Nigerians.
Despite the ban, most users have continued to access the platform via the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Some top politicians including religious leaders have defied the ban by tweeting via their handles.
The decision of the joint caucus was contained in a statement issued by Minority Leader House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, and the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe.
The statement reads in part, “The Joint Minority Caucus recognizes the provisions of Articles 19 and 20 of the United Nations Charter on Fundamental Human Rights, which Nigeria is a signatory to, as well as provisions of Sections 39 and 36 (12) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and notes that by these provisions no one will be violating any law for using twitter in Nigeria.
“As lawmakers, the Joint Caucus is pained by the anguish Nigerians, especially the youths, who find the use of twitter as a means of livelihood and genuine social interaction, are passing through just because the APC-led Federal Government feels slighted that an individual’s post, was deleted by Twitter for ethical violation.”
