Majority of legislators in House of Representatives, have on Thursday, July 1 rejected a motion to lift the suspension of microblogging platform, Twitter by the federal government.
The rejection came while the House was considering the report of its Committee on the matter.
Recall that the House last week mandated its Committees on Information, ICT, Intelligence, Justice and Orientation to investigate the circumstances of the suspension by the federal government.
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The suspension followed the deletion one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweets which many deemed to be a genocidal threat against Igbo tribe.
Following this, Federal Government directed telecommunication companies to turn off Twitter on June 4, 2021, citing the capacity of the social media platform to “undermine Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
On Thursday, July 1, 2021 as the House deliberated on the reports of committees tasked with looking into the ban, Deputy Minority Leader of the House, Toby Okechukwu suggested an amendment to one of the recommendations.
The recommendation reads as follows;
That the federal government should take into cognisance the negative effect of the Twitter suspension on Nigerians who depend on the platform for their livelihood…and lift the suspension.
When the recommendation was put to a voice vote, the “Nays” railed the loudest and the suspension motion was subsequently laid to rest.
Meanwhile, the FG has declared that Twitter must pay taxes to Nigeria and register as a Nigerian company before the ban would be lifted.
Also, Information Minister Lai Mohammed continues to blame Twitter for the violence, looting and arson that trailed last October’s protests against police brutality.
However, talks between Twitter and the Federal Government are ongoing.
