We’ll defend any Nigerian undergoing prosecution for tweeting, lawyers body vows

The Nigerian Bar Association is set for a legal battle with the Federal Government over its decision to suspend operations of the micro-blogging and social media platform, Twitter.

The NBA National Publicity Secretary, Dr Rapulu Nduka, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Lagos, said a 13-member committee had been set up to handle matters relating to the suit the association planned to file against the Federal Government.

Nduka stated this as The PUNCH on Wednesday learnt that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami; and his counterpart for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, would lead talks with Twitter.

The Federal Government has been under fire since Friday when the minister of Information and Culture, in a statement by his spokesman, Segun Adeyemi, suspended Twitter operations on the grounds that the platform was undermining the country’s corporate existence.

On Saturday, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, directed the Director of Public Prosecution in his ministry to begin the process of prosecuting violators of the suspension order.

But before Malami gave the directive, the NBA had on Friday threatened to institute a suit against the Federal Government over the suspension of Twitter’s operations.

Its President, Olumide Akpata, in a statement made via the social media platform, said government lacked constitutional authority to back its decision.

He said if the suspension was not reversed, the NBA would sue government to protect the country’s democracy.

The NBA National Publicity Secretary, Nduka, in the interview with The PUNCH correspondent, said the suit was delayed by the strike by judiciary workers.

He, however, stated, “A committee has already been set up by the NBA to handle matters related to the intended suit. The members of the committee will do whatever it takes to address the issue.”

According to Nduka, the committee in charge of the suit is the NBA Public Interest Litigation Committee.

On Wednesday, he stated, “The mandate of the committee, among other things, is to actively take steps to reinforce the faith of society in law, bring solutions to societal issues and most especially, to check the abuse of power.

“The committee is chaired by Dr Charles Mekwunye, with Dr Olumide Ayeni (SAN) acting as its co-chairman. Other members of the committee include Dr Paul Ananaba (SAN), Kunle Edun, Aderemi Oguntoye, Boonyameen Lawal, Solomon Oho, Gloria Ballason, Malachy Odo, Olumide Babalola, Baba Isah, Amaka Ezeno, and Auwal Yau.”

He said the court, among others, would determine if the Federal Government had the power to suspend the operations of a company like Twitter just because the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), was hurt by its policies.

Nduka added, “I must also confess that from the look of things, the Federal Government is trying to soft-pedal on the situation. We are watching and waiting for the courts to resume in order to take actions.”

The NBA spokesman said government initially stated that the ban was indefinite, but later claimed it was temporary.

He stated, “Hopefully, the government will retrace its steps and do the right thing. Whichever way it goes, issues like these need to be taken to court so that judicial principles can be made for future purposes.

“We do not only have the present administration in mind, some of these issues may arise in another administration and we do not want history to repeat itself.

“The motto of the NBA is ‘promoting the rule of law.’ It is unbelievable that the government has threatened to prosecute any Nigerian caught violating its order. I think the threat may have been made out of anger without recourse to its consequences.

“In the first place, under what law would such Nigerians be prosecuted? Also, what happens to the freedom of expression enshrined in our constitution which is a fundamental human right?

“In this light, we vow to protect and defend any Nigerian who will be prosecuted for tweeting, in violation of the Federal Government’s order. In essence, they have not committed any crime and we hope to defend them when the time comes.”

Senate keeps mum on Twitter ban

As the public outcry greeted the suspension, the Senate on Wednesday kept sealed lips on the issue.

Investigations by one of our correspondents revealed that the matter was discussed at an executive session of the Senate on Tuesday and the lawmakers resolved to keep silent on it.

The Spokesperson for the red chamber, Senator Ajibola Basiru, refused to say the position of the senators when contacted on Wednesday.

He said since he did not have the mandate of the Senate to speak, journalists should wait till the matter would be discussed at plenary.

Ignore Twitter ban, opposition National Assembly members tell Nigerians

But the Joint Minority Caucus of the Senate and the House of Representatives urged Nigerians to ignore the Federal Government

The opposition lawmakers stated this in a statement by the Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu.

The group condemned the ban on Twitter by the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government, saying it was draconian and unacceptable.

The group called on Nigerians to go ahead and use their Twitter as they would not be contravening any law in Nigeria or any international

Ubani plans to sue Malami, others over Twitter ban

Also, the Chairman of the NBA Section of Public Interest and Development Law, Dr Monday Ubani, on Wednesday said he would sue Malami over the ban.

While speaking to The PUNCH, Ubani said Buhari’s regime had violated his rights.

He stated, “As a Nigerian citizen with full rights as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), I shall be proceeding to the court alongside other Twitter users whose rights have been violated, to seek immediate remedy to the wrongs meted out to us by this illegal ban.”

A Lagos-based lawyer, Chief Malcolm Omirhobo, has asked the ECOWAS Court of Justice to void the suspension.

In the suit he filed on Wednesday, the lawyer contended that through the suspension order, the Federal Government had denied him access to his Twitter and thus violated his “rights to freedom of association, speech and expression.”

https://punchng.com/nba-readies-13-member-legal-team-lai-pantami-lead-talks-with-twitter/?utm_source=auto-read-also&utm_medium=web

Akuko ifo na atu uto na nti onye nzuzu.
Yama Yama Stori Dey beat drum for Zombie
Fake Stories are appealing in a fool’s ear
Make dem prosecute their master AGF

Zombie A.k.a clinicman aka plaindealer would die of B.P with this


He has been crying on several thrend that they have moved on but like a bitter ex keeps stalking

Meanwhile nairaland has now banned the Terrorist platform called crow.we and ko.o

yes oooo
we keep winning
CilicMarin keeps crying and advertising useless bug filled koockroach app

we move!

Ok o

What about the human rights violation, will you help fight for the compensation?

Please fight the Federal Government against their decision to ban twitter. That will be better than fighting for us after being apprehended for tweeting

Space booked

more tears for Tinubu urchins

Even Buhari no wan deactivate
Hehehehehe

long live the youths
say no to any data mining app

Awesome

AchalugoNwa:
yes oooo
we Have Won
CilicMarin keeps crying and advertising useless bug filled koockroach app

we move!

fixed

(1). We have done chemical distillation of zombies and Terrorists from Twitter

(2). They are now stalking from india app, entertainers, footballers, musicians, etc didn't follow them

(3). Adamumu Garba has been used and dump, his zombies didn't come to his app, he is growing a third mark on his skull from frustration

We will not take this... NBA is IPOB, twitter
is evil... twitter kidnapped 60 women in Zamfara yesterday... The government should BAN NBA

They sound so stupid.... Una Dey defend another person n country business leave una own..... Ndi ara

C

nrexzy:
They sound so stupid.... Una Dey defend another person n country business leave una own..... Ndi ara

But Nigeria Government that banned Twitter to grow Nigeria are now using low budget India people app

This company call twitter is not register in Nigeria, I think this NBA is useless, you cannot win

supportnija:
This company call twitter is not register in Nigeria, I think this NBA is useless, you cannot win

Zombie

Did you read at all, they are going to defend Nigerians who are illegally arrested for using a legal app on their phones

Mikecold:
But Nigeria Government that banned Twitter to grow Nigeria are now using low budget India people app

It would motivate we in the tech industry to come up with our own....
Moreover the hype on Twitter is excessive.. It's just a one man owned business... For Twitter to say they don't know PMB is an insult. They did verify his account...

Mikecold:
l

S&A

nrexzy:


It would motivate we in the tech industry to come up with our own....
Moreover the hype on Twitter is excessive.. It's just a one man owned business... For Twitter to say they don't know PMB is an insult. They did verify his account...

But their is currently crow.we app by a Fulani

Yet FG ditched him for Indian

Our people say if person must chop sacrifice he should chop the one well ganished

We prefer the standard global Twitter to a copy paste Indian wannabe

Let's see how it goes...

Buhari is a terrorist
Apc is bokoharam
Tinubu is a bastard
osibanjo is a vagabond
Elrufai is a midget
lair Muhammed is a charlatan
Lauretta is a prostitute
Aisha is a harlot
Garbage shehu is a garbage
Adesina is a miscreant
igbokwe is a goat
Uzodinma is a fraudster
zombies are criminals

Thunder scatter all of them in Jesus name Amen

Oya 8:45 am don reach. Go watch Buhari live interview

No stressing.
Nobody can even arrest anyone unless the government wants to be more unfortunate.
It'll be worse than ENDSARS...


USELESS ABOKEY FOOL ANI PIGS

supportnija:

S&A

When would you start using crow.we

Are you no longer supporting Nija

airminem:
Oya 8:45 am don reach. Go watch Buhari live interview

You mean the "live" interview he has already been given rehearsal on

In which court?
The one on strike?

Useless NBA

And you should

The battle line is drawn

Lmao.. When will they defend innocent people in Nigeria prisons.. NBA and showoff

Elock1:

In which court?
The one on strike?

how will offenders be persecuted when courts are on strike

It's both ways unless the government want to harass people unlawfully