Following the ban placed on microblogging site, Twitter, the presidency has taken a swipe at governors of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying it has affected their ability to spread “fake news”.
It would be recalled that the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension of the platform, stating that it is a threat to Nigeria’s corporate existence.
Reacting to the ban, the PDP governors’ forum, in a communique on Monday, said such an act will deprive Nigerians of their freedom of expression.
The opposition governors said, “The mere ego of Mr. President is not enough for such a drastic action that deprives millions of Nigerians of such an affordable means of expression and communication. We hope that this is not a harbinger or early warning signs of descent into dictatorship.”
However, the presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, while reacting to the PDP governors’ communique said it goes to show why their party should not be “entrusted with any national leadership of our country any time soon”.
“The PDP grieves over the Federal Government’s action over Twitter – for it represents the curtailment of their ability to use the platform to spread fake news and invented stories to the detriment of community and good-neighborliness between the peoples of Nigeria,” Shehu said.
“The PDP Governors propose no solutions to any of our nation’s challenges in the face of COVID and global economic downturn: instead, they grasp for more money and mourn their lack of access to social media to spread falsehoods and hate.
“Their statement is evidence, if any were needed, as to why the President and the APC ended the PDP’s one-party rule in 2015, were re-elected by an increased margin in 2019, and why their winning trend is set to continue far into the future,” The Cable further quoted Garba as saying.
In the communique, the governors also accused the federal government of not doing enough to improve the economy of the country.
However, according to Shehu, the governors need to look inwards, especially as it relates to local government autonomy and addressing farmer-herder clashes in their domains.
“When the governors claim a lack of federal institutions’ money pouring into their States’ coffers is an affront to democracy, constitutionalism, and federalism, they fail to mention the ugliest trend against the integrity of Nigeria comes by own hands with their refusal to support the Federal Government’s earnest desire to reinstate the local government as the third tier and finding a lasting solution to farmer-herder conflicts costing the nation lives and livestock,” he said.