Just In: FG Finally Lifts Suspension on Twitter Operations in Nigeria
- After about seven months, the Nigerian government said it has now lifted the suspension of Twitter operations in the country
- The announcement was made by Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)
- Abdullahi explained that the development followed President Buhari's approval, adding that the suspension will take effect from 12am, Thursday, January 13
FCT, Abuja - The federal government has reportedly lifted the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria following the approval by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to The Nation, the decision was announced by Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the chairman of the Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement and director-general of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Source: Facebook
Kashifu, in a statement in Abuja, said the approval was given following a memo written to the President by the minister of communications and digital economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim, The Cable also reported.
He was quoted to have said:
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“The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) directs me to inform the public that President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has approved the lifting of the suspension of Twitter operation in Nigeria effective from 12am tonight, 13th January 2022.
“The approval was given following a memo written to the President by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim.
“In the Memo, the Minister updated and requested the President’s approval for the lifting based on the Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement’s recommendation.”
How Twitter's operation was suspended
Legit.ng recalls that the federal government in June 2021 announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter’s operation.
The suspension was announced after the platform deleted tweets made by President Buhari, who had threatened to treat members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the “language they understand”.
However, the federal government attributed the suspension to “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
Twitter finally meets FG's conditions
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that investigations and reliable reports indicated that Twitter was expected to resume full operations, having met all the conditions listed by the federal government.
It was gathered that the technical committee set up to resolve the issue between both parties was working on the offers by Twitter after which a final recommendation would be made to President Buhari.
A government source disclosed that the site had "finally met six conditions set by the government for the lifting of the ban on its service in Nigeria as at the close of business in 2021."
Source: Legit.ng
