FG To Lift Twitter Ban As Company Agrees To Open Office In Nigeria

The Nigerian Government has said that it would soon lift the ban it placed on Twitter.

This comes as the talks between the government and Twitter have reportedly yielded positive results.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this at the end of the virtual Federal Executive Council meeting (FEC) which Vice President Yemi Osinbajo presided over on Wednesday.

“We appreciate the patience of Nigerians. I want to assure you that we have made very tremendous progress. We have met with Twitter both physically and in writing. We are actually almost there.

“The engagement has been extremely positive without any acrimony. We have made it clear what we want from Twitter,” he said.

Mohammed said both parties have reached agreements on all but three areas. One of those areas is the request of the Federal Government that Twitter registers as a company in Nigeria with an office address, stablishes a legal presence, and recruit an employee to serve as a country representative on ground.

“They (Twitter) have shown a lot of flexibility, the conversation has not been acrimonious,” he said.

Twitter however said that it cannot establish a company earlier than 2022, said the minister.

The social media giant was banned in Nigeria back in June after a tweet made by President Buhari was removed from the platform for going against its rules.

The government however maintained that the ban was not because the president’s tweet was deleted.