BREAKING: FG Bows To Pressure, Set To Lift Twitter Ban In Nigeria

FG is set to lift the Twitter ban in Nigeria says, Lai Mohammed.

 

 

Newsonline reports that the Federal Government has again assured Nigerians that all issues that led to the ban of the microblogging site, Twitter, will be sorted out soon and services restored back.

 

This online newspaper understands that the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, gave the assurance while speaking to newsmen after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday.

Recall that Lai Mohammed had on August 11, 2021, assured Nigerians that the ban on Twitter would be lifted soon.

However, the minister, while speaking on Wednesday, said the ongoing discussions between FG and Twitter had been “productive”.

 

Lai Mohammed, who declined to give a specific timeline on when the ban would be lifted, said, “I think even Twitter itself two days ago gave what I will call a progress report on our talks with them, and I think if I want to quote them rightly, it has been productive and quite respectful.

“And as to the qualifying, when, how soon is soon, right? I want to assure you that the time that Twitter operation has been suspended, between the time it has been suspended, and when it will be restored is by far, much, much shorter.

“In other words, if the operation has been suspended for about 100 days now, I can tell that we’re just actually talking about a few, just a few more days now.

“What we’re trying to do is the changes that have been going on, but we need to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, but I can assure us that we’re not mindful of the anxiety of Nigerians and both parties are working very hard to put a closure on the matter.

 

“And like Twitter itself said the changes have been very, very productive on both parties. It has not been advisory at all. And it’s quite respectful. Thank you very much,” he said.

 

The minister, when asked on when the suspension would be resolved, added, “Honestly, we have gone very far, I won’t be specific, but we have gone very far, and honestly, it’s just going to be very, very soon, just take my word for that.

 

“Honestly, I can’t be more specific than what I’ve told you that it is going to be very soon.”

 

Newsonline Nigeria recalls that the Federal Government suspended Twitter on June 4, 2021, after it removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional secessionists.

 

FG had suspended Twitter operations in Nigeria, citing the “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.

 

There are reports that Nigeria has lost at least $360 million over the ban of the microblogging site in the country.