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Twitter Ban: ‘Nigerians have a constitutional right to freedom of expression’ – Sweden Embassy
The Embassy of Sweden in Abuja has reacted to the Twitter ban by the Nigerian government. The reaction came on Friday night through the embassy’s Twitter account.
“Nigerians have a constitutional right to exercise their freedom of expression and a right of information. This must be respected. Safeguarding free, independent media and civic spaces for democratic voices is an important part of Sweden’s drive for democracy,” the Swedish Embassy stated.
Similarly, the Canadian high commissioner to Nigeria, Nicolas Simard said freedom of speech and access to reliable information are fundamental human rights protected by the constitution.
Meanwhile, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata also reacted to the ban by noting that Nigeria operates in a constitutional democracy and therefore everything must be done according to law.
Akpata stated that part of the implication of the ban was on the right of Nigerians to “freely express their constitutionally guaranteed opinions through that medium”.
He also noted that the licensing of all OTT and social media operations by the Nigerian Communications Commission was another attempt to stifle freedom of speech and shrink civic space.
The Twitter ban was announced on Friday afternoon through the official Twitter handle of the Ministry of Information and Culture.
