Mallam Nasir El-rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State is under attack for using Twitter despite the ban imposed on the social media platform by the government.
On Wednesday, November 10, El-Rufai’s Twitter handle responded to a tweet by a user who was commending him for his good works while he served as minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
Nigerians who were not pleased with this asked why he was still using the platform despite the ban. In response to the question, he said he’s outside the country at the moment which is why he can use it.
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His tweet read:
“VPN? Nope, outside Nigeria for a couple of days, so can tweet for the time being.”
Rinu Oduala wrote:
“The only place you get the freedom of speech is outside Nigeria.”
El-rufai who disagreed with Rinu, said the ban of Twitter does not equate lack of freedom of speech.
He stated that freedom of speech still exists in Nigeria despite the Twitter ban.
El-rufai wrote:
“Wrong
@SavvyRinu
! Conflating Twitter with “freedom of speech” is a significant exaggeration.
“Freedoms of many descriptions existed before and without Twitter, and will remain long after!! Enjoy your day.”
below are some comments;
@Bnk2nde “ Imagine getting out Nigeria and one of the few things you want to do is to tweet… LOL Nigeria politicians, whatever that makes you sleep better.”
@Chydec1 “ When you have to leave Nigeria to enjoy freedom of expression, really speaks a lot about the type of government in Nigeria presently. At least people like you who have the means to travel outside get to enjoy good Governance but fail to replicate what you enjoy here.”
@MrFlairr “ Hello @elrufai , the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria banned Twitter so whether you are outside Nigeria or not, you are supposed to honor the ban. There is no justification for what you have done Sir, apologize to the president and delete ur account.”
@DukeIkedi “ So Twitter dey hungry you like this.”
@UchePOkoye “ You had to leave Nigeria to be able to tweet.So you have been wanting to tweet but couldn’t and you never said anything.So the only place we can be to express ourselves on this app is outside Nigeria.”
@MyDeji247 “Eyaa and I’m now feeling for you ou Sir. So once you’re back in the country, you’d be back in bondage? Tell Bubu to do better.”
@Everroun “ My dear Governor, I expected you to have entirely deleted your account in demonstration of your absolute solidarity with Mr. President. Keeping the account & tweeting when you’re outside Nigeria goes to give the impression that you don’t share in Mr President’s Twitter ban.”
@MahmoodMuhdNura “ Atleast you should have follow the presidential directives everywhere you’re if u’re a loyal citizen.”
Recall that Governors and some Government officials stopped tweeting after the ban on the twitter.
Also, Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, said Twitter was used to carry out activities against the corporate existence of Nigeria.