President Muhammadu Buhari says he had directed the lifting of the suspension on Twitter if the organisation meets the conditions of the federal government.
Buhari disclosed this in his nationwide broadcast to mark the nation’s October 1 Independence Anniversary on Friday.
He lamented that recent events have
shown that the social media platform is not just an innocuous platform for information dissemination but for other nefarious activities.
Rather, he noted that 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, President Buhari said the federal government suspended the operations of Twitter in Nigeria on June 5, 2021, to allow the government to put measures in place to address these challenges.
He said, “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 has addressed several 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 to 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.”
