PDP Reps Walk Out Of Plenary Over Twitter Ban
Members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives have staged a walkout over the refusal of the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, to grant their prayer on the recent ban of Twitter by the Nigerian government.
Gbajabiamila had earlier asked relevant committees of the House to investigate the matter within 10 days.
Leader of the PDP caucus, Kingsley Chinda, much later, raised a point of order to make an additional prayer that the House should ask the Federal Government to lift the ban pending when the House probes the ban.
According to Chinda, the implication is that the ban would remain for 10 days, which means the rights of Nigerians would be kept in abeyance during the period when the matter is being probed.
Gbajabiamila, however, cited part of the Standing Orders of the House stating that a matter that had been concluded by the parliament cannot be revisited for a debate.
The Speaker, therefore, ruled Chinda out of order, a decision that did not go down well the members of the opposition, Punch reports.
Insisting on speaking and several leaders of the House shutting him down, Chinda led other PDP members out of the chamber.
