Twitter reaches out to FG to end impasse

Federal Government, yesterday, said Twitter management has reached out to seek high-level discussion to resolve the issue that led to the suspension of its activities in Nigeria.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this to journalists after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the presidential villa, Abuja, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said the management of the microblogging platform reached out yesterday morning even as he reiterated that Twitter was suspended because it provided an avenue for those threatening the corporate existence of the country.

This is even as it accused Twitter, Facebook, and other social media service providers, also known as over-the-top (OTT) media service providers of cheating Nigeria by not paying taxes.

He also disclosed that investigations had revealed that the founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, was one of the funders of #EndSARS protest in 2020, while allowing the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, to use the platform to call for the killing of policemen.

He listed conditions that must be met for Twitter operations in Nigeria, even with the call for discussion, to include its registration as a business concern in the country.  Apart from Twitter, he said other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, must also be registered in the country.

Mohammed said freedom of speech has not been stifled by the suspension of Twitter as he maintained that Nigerians can still use other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.