The House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a motion to lift the indefinite suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria.
It, however, endorsed the decision of the federal government to dialogue with Twitter.
The Federal Government had on May 5 suspended the microblogging site for allegedly “undermining the corporate existence of Nigeria.”
Despite international condemnation over the suspension, the federal government stood its ground.
It, however, gave some condition for lifting the suspension, which include that the microblogging site and other social media site must register as corporate entities in Nigeria.
Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed, when he appeared before the House on June 22 had said the operation of Twitter in the country “is not legally permissible”.
The lawmakers decision to back Twitter’s suspension was taken after the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values, Olusegun Odebunmi, moved a motion for the consideration of report of the committee that was set up to investigation the circumstances behind Twitter’s suspension.
Some members of the House objected to the report on the premise not all relevant stakeholders were invited during the public hearing, and that committee wasn’t prudent in its work, since it didn’t asked the parliament to take a resolution on it.
The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, in his contribution said the hearing was conducted publicly, and every relevant people participated.
