Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has directed Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing, Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation, to dialogue with Twitter over the ban of the microblogging site.
Nigeria’s row with Twitter began after the social media platform yanked off a tweet of Buhari on Civil War. The Federal Government had banned Twitter indefinitely over alleged meddling.
In spite of pressure from civil rights organisations and the international community, the Buhari administration upheld its stance.
However, in a statement on Tuesday, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, announced that the FG has set up a team to dialogue with Twitter.
Other ministers on the team are Geoffrey Onyeama (Foreign Affairs), Isa Pantami (Communication and Digital Economy), and Chris Ngige.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the composition of the Federal Government’s team to engage with Twitter over the recent suspension of the operations of the microblogging and social networking service in Nigeria.”
“The Federal Government’s team also comprises the Attorney General of the Federation and Honourable Minister of Justice, Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Honourable Minister of State for Labour and Employment as well as other relevant government agencies.
“Following the indefinite suspension of its operations in Nigeria, for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence, Twitter wrote to President Buhari seeking to engage with the Federal Government over the suspension, with a view to charting a path forward,” Mohammed said in a statement issued by Segun Adeyemi, his spokesman.
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) later ordered all radio and television stations to deactivate their Twitter accounts after many Nigerians had circumvented the ban by resorting to the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The government has directed all social media platforms to register as businesses in Nigeria.