El-Rufai is tweeting outside Nigeria where freedom of speech is assured, but encourages it’s clampdown in Nigeria
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has been using his Twitter account to tweet in violation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s order for the ban of the microblogging App in Nigeria.
El-Rufai claims that he uses his Twitter because he was abroad where he would not require a Virtual Private Network( VPN) to access the App.
When asked why he was using VPN to violate Buhari’s order, he responded:: “VPN? Nope……outside Nigeria for a couple of days, so can tweet for the time being….”
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A young activist, Rinu Oduala, tweeting with her handle @SavvyRinu, countered him. “The only place you get freedom of speech is outside Nigeria”.
El-Rufai, trying to sound logical, argued: “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.”
But Rinu has more response for El-Rufai: “You are blanketing shamelessness with proper English, my dear Governor. I only hope bandits are not kïlling innocent citizens wherever you are. Enjoy!”
The government’s reason for banning Twitter was because it alleged that it helps promotes the agenda of secessionist groups who wish to destabilise Nigeria.
El-Rufai is a staunch supporter of the President who has also been antagonistic of free speech. His government is prosecuting more than a dozen citizens for criticizing his style. Former chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Chidi Odinkalu, is one of the activists El-Rufai has been in court with over a comment he made against the governor.
