NBA, SERAP To Sue FG Over Twitter Suspension

Following the Nigerian Government’s announcement of Twitter’s suspension in the country, the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project has said it would be going to court over the development.

“BREAKING: We’re suing Nigerian authorities over their ILLEGAL indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria,” it tweeted on Friday.

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SERAP argued that the government was bound not to violate Nigerians’ right to freely express themselves.

“Nigerians have a right to freedom of expression and access to information including online, and we plan to fight to keep it that way.

“@NigeriaGov, we’ll see you in court,” it added.

THE WHISTLER earlier reported that the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had announced Twitters’ indefinite suspension, adding that the social media company’s activity was a threat to the country’s cooperate existence.

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Mohammed had earlier condemned Twitter for deleting President Muhammadu Buhari’s “civil war” tweet.

Following the destruction of public institutions in the South-East, Buhari had recalled the Nigerian civil war and warned that those trying to destabilize the country would be treated in the language they understand.

But like SERAP, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) considered FG’s twitter ban as a great concern for democracy.

In a tweet on Friday, NBA president, Olumide Akpata, asked the government to retract its order or be ready to face court action.

“The @NigBarAssoc finds no constitutional or legal authority to support the peremptory action of the Federal Government to suspend the operations of Twitter in Nigeria. Beyond the dent on our constitutional democracy, at a time when the Nigerian economy is unarguably struggling the impact of arbitrary decisions such as this on investor confidence is better imagined.

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“Consequently, if this decision is not immediately reversed, the @NigBarAssoc will have no choice but to challenge same in the interest of the public and for the sake of our democracy,” he tweeted.

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