President, Muhammadu Buhari has directed that the suspension of micro blogging site, Twitter be lifted “but only if the conditions are met” by the tech giant.
President Buhari made this known in his Independence Day broadcast on October 1st, 2021.
According to the President, “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.”
On June 5th this year, the government suspended Twitter accusing the tech giant of “undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
The President insisted that since the ban, “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.”
President Buhari stated that the “The Committee 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.”
President Buhari insists that he has “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,” he added.
