President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, said he had directed a conditional lifting of the ban placed on the operations of the micro blogging site, Twitter, in Nigeria in June.
This was disclosed in his nationwide broadcast to Nigerians to mark the nation’s 61st independence.
However, the President said, the lifting of the ban is based on Twitter meeting the conditions set by the Presidential Committee (and its Technical Team) over which they engaged with Twitter.
The federal government had banned Twitter in June, ironically making the announcement via Twitter.
Although the presidency has giving on resolution of the issues, this is the first time Buhari is being categorical.
He described the social media as a very useful platform but regretted that some users have misused the platform to organise, coordinate, and execute criminal activities, propagate fake news, and promote ethnic and religious sentiments.
The President in his Independence Day speech said, “Social media is a very useful platform that has enabled millions of Nigerians to connect with loved ones, promote their businesses, socialise, and access news and other information.
“However, recent events have shown that the platform is not just an innocuous platform for information dissemination.
“Rather some users have misused the platform to organise, coordinate, and execute criminal activities, propagate fake news, and promote ethnic and religious sentiments.
“To address these negative trends, the Federal Government of Nigeria suspended the operations of Twitter in Nigeria on June 5, 2021 to allow the Government put measures in place to address these challenges.
“Following the suspension of Twitter operations, Twitter Inc. reached out to the Federal Government of Nigeria to resolve the impasse. Subsequently, I constituted a Presidential Committee to engage Twitter to explore the possibility of resolving the issue.
“The Committee, along with its Technical Team, has engaged with Twitter and have addressed a number of key issues. These are National Security and Cohesion; Registration, Physical presence and Representation; Fair Taxation; Dispute Resolution; and Local Content.
“Following the extensive engagements, the issues are being addressed and I have directed that the suspension be lifted but only if the conditions are met to allow our citizens continue the use of the platform for business and positive engagements.
“As a country, we are committed to ensuring that digital companies use their platform to enhance the lives of our citizens, respect Nigeria’s sovereignty, cultural values and promote online safety.”
