Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has threatened to sue the federal government for banning Twitter.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) says the federal government ban of Twitter lacks constitutional authority and has, therefore, threatened to institute a lawsuit against it.
Earlier today, the federal government has
accused the micro-blogging site of “undermining Nigeria’s existence” and therefore suspended its operations in Nigeria indefinitely.
However, the NBA President, Olumide Akpata, in reaction to this via the social media platform, said this was a “disguised attempt to regulate social media, restrict freedom of speech and shrink civic space.”
Akpata said this implies that the government has also “suspended the right of Nigerians to freely express their constitutionally guaranteed opinions” through Twitter.
He, therefore, vowed that to protect the country’s democracy, the association will sue the government if the decision is not reversed.
The NBA President said, “Whether one likes it or not, we are operating a constitutional democracy, the primary consequence of which is that everything must be done according to law; government must be conducted within the framework of recognised rules and principles which restrict discretionary power.
“The NBA 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.
“Consequently, if this decision is not immediately reversed, the NBA will have no choice but to challenge same in the interest of the public and for the sake of our democracy.”
Meanwhile, Gatekeepers News earlier reported that the former Senate President of Nigeria, Bukola Saraki, has also called for a review of the suspension on Twitter.
