Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has described the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union as hypocrites for criticising the Nigerian Government’s decision to suspend Twitter.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Federal Government suspended the Twitter operation in Nigeria on June 4 citing the “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence and also ordered media houses to stop using the microblogging platform.
The suspension comes two days after the microblogging platform deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet.
European Union, Canada, Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America had in a joint statement expressed disappointment over the Federal Government’s decision and noted that “banning systems of expression is not the answer.”
Gatekeepers News reports that on Friday, Lai Mohammed said the countries’ reactions were merely for economic reasons and not because they genuinely love Nigeria.
He wondered why the EU and the UK would accuse the Nigerian government of suppressing free speech when it is already working on the regulation of social media.
The Minister also dismissed claims that Twitter was suspended for pulling down Buhari’s controversial ‘civil war’ remark.
“The EU has recommended the same thing and Britain only on Wednesday spoke about a law that would regulate the social media. This is why I say they are being hypocritical. As I said, I don’t like commenting on issues that have to do with relations with Nigeria and other countries but clearly speaking, they are being less than honest,” Mohammed said when he appeared on an NTA “Good Morning Nigeria” programme.
