The joint minority caucus of the Senate and the House of Representatives has called on Nigerians to ignore the ban placed by the Federal Government on Twitter and continue to use the social media platform.
The National Assembly caucus described the ban as draconian.
The group decried that many Nigerians are losing their sources of livelihood to the action.
Also Read: Suspension: FG Should Have Sued Twitter, Not Place A Ban – Falana
The Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe; and Minority Leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, stated this in a statement issued on Wednesday, titled ‘NASS Joint Minority Caucus Asks Nigerians to Continue Using Twitter.’
According to the statement, the joint caucus met over the ban by the All Progressives Congress government and “restates its condemnation of the embargo as draconian and unacceptable.”
The opposition lawmakers also dismissed threats by the government to arrest and prosecute Nigerians for using twitter, calling on Nigerians to “go ahead and use their Twitter (handles) as they would not be contravening any law in Nigeria or any international statute.”
The Joint Minority Caucus recognized the provisions of Articles 19 and 20 of the United Nations Charter on Fundamental Human Rights, which Nigeria is a signatory to, as well as provisions of Sections 39 and 36 (12) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and notes that by these provisions no one will be violating any law for using Twitter in Nigeria.