Yinusu Ahmed, member of All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the house of representatives, says the suspension of Twitter by the Nigeria government is yielding positive results.
He said the activities of Nigerians on the microblogging platform have been heating up the polity, but that the dust is settling as the suspension lingers.
Ahmed said this on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme on Wednesday.
“Given the situation and the scenario, I support the ban of Twitter 100 percent,” he said.
“The government has the constitutional right to do that when the security of the country is breached, these people using Twitter either for trading or for marketing, if war breaks out, where will you be doing your business?”
The Federal Government last Friday suspended the operations of Twitter, the microblogging and social networking service, in Nigeria.
Lai Mohammed, Minister of information, announced the indefinite suspension in a statement.
According to the statement, the minister cited “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
The action of the federal government has since generated outrage as many people lament the illegality of the ban and its adverse economic effects on the country.
But Ahmed like many other APC and government cronies expressed why the ban is in the best interest of the country.
He continued, “So we are trying to be proactive. I think Nigerians should be able to wait for 10 days for things to be put into perspective rather than allow Twitter to run freely.
“To me personally, I think we need to preserve the nation first. We believe Twitter has contributed a lot to heating up the state of our polity.
“For us to take a little time so that we can create an enabling environment. That suspension has started yielding results. The ban has yielded results, so to me we have no regret whatsoever.”
In reaction, Solomon Maren, member of the PDP caucus in the house of representatives, said if the president feels offended by the actions of Twitter, he should engage an international court rather than oppress Nigerians.
“I think if the president feels like what he wrote was right, he should take up the matter with Twitter,” he said.
“He can sue them in an international court but not bring the matter and visit it on Nigerians who are legitimately doing their businesses.
“As Nigerians, I believe this is the area we must speak out and condemn what is condemnable. Whatever affects Nigerians affects us.”
