The ban of Twitter operations in Nigeria on Tuesday resulted in some Peoples Democratic Party’s House of Representatives members clashing with Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila and walking out of the green chamber during plenary.
President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government last Friday announced the indefinite suspension of the microblogging and social networking service in the claim that it was bias against Nigeria government and being used for activities that are capable of undermining the country’s corporate existence.
The action of the government has been condemned by many Nigerians including the United States, United Kingdom, and some other foreign governments, who are insisting that the suspension remained a violation of the rights of Nigerians.
At the Reps plenary on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, Gbajabiamila, in his opening speech, said that the legislature would make sure that due process of law was followed by the Federal Government in the matter.
He, thereafter, mandated the House Committees on Communication, Justice, Information and Culture, and National Security and Intelligence to begin a probe into the suspension, and report back in 10 days.
However, a member of the PDP, Kingsley Chinda, while plenary was ongoing, raised a point of order to ask that the governent immediately reverse the suspension.
Chinda argued the 10 days given to the committee to report back were too long to allow the breach of the rights of Nigerians to continue in that time.
“We should urge the executive arm, in the interim, to reverse this order, pending the outcome of our interaction,” he noted.
He was, however, ruled out of order by the Speaker, who said that the matter had been concluded and that his request would affect the mandate already passed to the probe committees.
The Speaker and other lawmakers asked Chinda to sit down but the PDP lawmaker refused to immediately comply with the directives
Instead, he walked out of the green chamber with over a dozen other PDP lawmakers following him.
As the plenary continued in their absence, the Speaker speaking on the development, suggested that the walkout was pre-planned but that he was glad not all the PDP lawmakers joined in what he described as a scheme to undermine his leadership.
Meanwhile, Chinda told newsmen after he walked out of the chamber that an official motion regarding his position would be presented to the House during plenary on June 9.