FOLLOWING the suspension of its activities in Nigeria, Twitter has reached out to the Federal Government seeking high-level discussion to resolve the issue.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this to correspondents after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, saying that he got the message on Wednesday morning.
He insisted that the microblogging platform was suspended because it provided an avenue for people that are threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria. According to him, the owner of Twitter helped to fund the recent #EndSARS protest while allowing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), Nnamdi Kanu, to use the platform to call for the killing of policemen.
He said Twitter failed to take down Kanu’s twits despite repeated requests to do so. Mohammed listed conditions that must be met even if there is a discussion with Twitter, including that it must be registered in Nigeria as a business concern.
Apart from Twitter, he said other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram must be registered in the country. The minister said freedom of speech has not been stifled by the suspension of Twitter in the country as he maintained that Nigerians can still use other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
He also denied that the suspension is not effective, arguing that Twitter is losing money as a result of the action.
When asked whether government will hold the discussion with Twitter, he replied: “Why not? We will. But our conditions are already laid out to you. One, to do business in Nigeria, they must register as a Nigerian company. Two, they must be licensed and three, they will have to refrain from using the platform for activities that are inimical to the growth of Nigeria, to the corporate existence of Nigeria.
“From there, any other issue can come up. We already talked to them.”
The United States has also, again, spoken against the ban on Twitter in Nigeria by President Buhari’s government, calling it “state-sanctioned denial of free speech.”
On Tuesday, Samantha Power, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said, “There are nearly 40 million Twitter users in Nigeria, and the country is home to Africa’s largest tech hub. This suspension is nothing more than state-sanctioned denial of free speech and should be reversed immediately.”
Her remark was posted by the US Mission Nigeria on Facebook.
Meanwhile, the joint minority caucus of the Senate and the House of Representatives has unanimously expressed opposition against President Buhari’s decision to ban Twitter in Nigeria. The caucus position was contained in a statement jointly signed by Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and House Minority leader, Honourable Ndudi Elumelu.
They accused Buhari’s administration of abandoning his duty to address the serious economic and security problems confronting the nation to rather focus on victimising Nigerians over their disagreement with Twitter for deleting a post by an individual.
The joint caucus also restated its condemnation of the embargo as draconian and unacceptable. The caucus also dismissed threats by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government to arrest and prosecute Nigerians using Twitter and called on Nigerians to go ahead and use their Twitter as they would not be contravening any law in Nigeria or any international statute.
“The caucus counsels the Federal Government to swallow its pride, accept its misdoing and go and settle whatever issue it has with Twitter instead of this resort to inflicting pains on Nigerians,” the statement read.
Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru, evaded questions on the ongoing controversy over the clampdown on Twitter by the Federal Government. The senator representing Osun Central at a media session declined comments as he said the Senate has no official position.
Senator Ajibola said “the Senate has not considered the issue of Twitter ban” and it would be wrong of him to express his personal opinion. He further challenged Nigerians who have strong reservations about the pronouncements of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to initiate legal actions against the AGF.
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