There are strong indications that the widely criticised decision of the Federal Government to ban the operations of Twitter in Nigeria would soon be reversed.
This is as the House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the Federal Government’s decision in 10 days with a view to guiding the action of the parliament on the matter.
Consequently, the House mandated its Committees on Communication, Justice, Information and Culture, and National Security and Intelligence to immediately commence an investigation to determine “the circumstances of the decision by the Federal Government of Nigeria to suspend the operations of Twitter in Nigeria and the legal authority for the ban on the operations of Twitter in Nigeria”.
The Committees are also mandated to invite the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to brief the House of on the objectives, intent, and duration of the suspension on the operations of Twitter in Nigeria and to report to the House within 10 days.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, gave the directives on Tuesday in his address at the resumed plenary of the lower chamber after two weeks’ break for zonal hearing on constitutional review.
Gbajabiamila urged the Committees to act with speed and sound judgment to address the issue that has animated national conversations over the last few days.
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“The suspension of Twitter in Nigeria has generated fierce debate. The House of Representatives has since the announcement been inundated with comments about the decision, requests for intervention and criticism. The House of Representatives recognises 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,” the speaker said.
“The House also recognises 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.
“The proper role of the legislature in circumstances like this is first to peel back the layers of the decision-making process to unravel the issues until we develop an understanding of the why and the how of executive decisions. Following that, the legislature must make sure that regulatory and enforcement actions by the government are in accordance with the laws of the land, that due process of law has been followed to the latter and that the outcomes of regulatory decisions do not result in adverse consequences for the country and all our people.
“Fidelity to our responsibilities in situations like this requires the legislature and legislators to as in the words of Rudyard Kipling, ‘keep your head when all about you are losing theirs’. We listen to the agitation of the people, but we also hear from the government so that from the abundance of information, we reach the level of awareness that allows us to discharge our role dispassionately,” he stated.
