The federal government says Twitter is not registered to do
business in Nigeria, hence its operation is illegal.
Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, spoke on
Tuesday when he appeared before a house of representatives investigative
hearing.
Following the suspension of the operations of the
microblogging site in the country, the green chamber mandated its committees on
communication, justice, information and culture, and national security and
intelligence to investigate the circumstances behind the decision.
Speaking at the investigative hearing on Tuesday, Mohammed said the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 does not permit foreign companies to do business in Nigeria if not registered.
He said Twitter cannot be given the “legitimate rights” to
operate until it is incorporated in Nigeria.
“As it regards that operation of a foreign companies in
Nigeria, the law provides that a foreign company which fails to take necessary
steps to obtain incorporation as a separate entity in Nigeria for that purpose,
but until so incorporated, the foreign company shall not carry on business in
Nigeria or exercise any powers of a registered company,” he said.
“Hence, flowing from this background a foreign Company as
Twitter cannot be clothed with the legitimate rights to operate as a company
registered in Nigeria, as they are not licensed accordingly.
“Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is also observed that the
operations of Twitter in the Nigerian social space is not legally permissible
when it is used in airing of information that endangers the life and security
of the majority of citizens of Nigeria.
“The principles of law are clear on the exercise of personal
human rights in the face of National security threats which affects the larger
citizen.”
Mohammed said Twitter was used as a “platform of choice” to
cause disunity in the country.
He said its suspension is backed by international laws
including articles 24, 25 and 26 of the African Union on Cyber Security and
Personal Data Protection (CCPR).
“Following the above,
the federal government of Nigeria is further empowered to take all reasonable
steps to defend its cyberspace where it perceives or finds that a cyber-crime,
is threatened to be committed, has been committed, or is being committed on and
through its cyberspace,” he said.
“In the circumstance, the decision of the Federal Government
to ban the activities of Twitter for being a national security threat is well
founded in law in light of the fact that the platform affords IPOB, an
organisation already proscribed by the Federal High Court, to champion its
seditious and terrorist based activities.”
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