Osinbajo, Tinubu, Others Regain Verification Badges As Twitter Faces Backlash For Removing Legacy Blue Check

By Busayo Agbola On Apr 24, 2023

Twitter Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, has seemingly returned verification badges to public figures and celebrities who did not pay the required $8 price.

In a surprising turn of events following the mass removal of the verification badges on Friday, people like Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and presidential candidates in the country’s last general election — Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, have received their blue ticks back.

Despite the fact that a description on the verification badge says they paid the $8 fee and are subscribed to Twitter Blue, the description should be taken with a pinch of salt.

This is because some public figures who received the verification badge back, after previously losing it, have stated that they did not pay the subscription fee.

Nigerian activist, Aisha Yesufu, called out the platform in a tweet saying that it is practicing fraudulent misrepresentation.

She urged the platform to either take back the verification she got back in her account or give a proper explanation on why she received it.

Hello @twitter @verified
What you are doing here is fraudulent misrepresentation. I did not subscribe to Twitter blue. Kindly take off the blue tick or give it, its proper explanation of why you gave it. Your action is affecting me as it leads to people questioning my… pic.twitter.com/ybxjnFg21G
— Aisha Yesufu (@AishaYesufu) April 23, 2023

Popular Nigerian Twitter influencer, Aproko Doctor also stated this in a tweet.

I think Elon just decided to verify notable people at once because of the backlash.

I remember when someone told me to pay N2m for verification, but I no dey give shi shi.

Now see! Free of charge. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
— Dr. Chinonso Egemba (@aproko_doctor) April 23, 2023

The same goes for influencer and Big Brother Naija alumni, Tacha, who said she received her verification back without paying.

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They had to verify us back because we NOR DEY Give SHI SHI🤣
— TACHA.ETH🔱🇳🇬🇬🇭 (@Symply_Tacha) April 23, 2023

American YouTuber, Valkyrae also stated clearly that she did not pay for her verification badge to be restored, adding that Twitter is lying.

I didn’t pay for verification or verify my number lol.. twitter is lying pic.twitter.com/zYOGHn4SJI
— RAE (@Valkyrae) April 22, 2023

Musk has received a lot of backlash from Twitter users on his numerous antics surrounding verification badges on the site, especially after wiping out all legacy verified accounts.

Legacy verified accounts refer to accounts that were verified to prevent misinformation and impersonation because they belonged to celebrities, public figures, or organizations.

Below are some of the reactions to Musk’s actions regarding verification on the platform:

That man keeps embarrassing himself, I knew celebrities would refuse to pay and he'd put them back
— tired of waiting for R9 (@RIHANNARAGE) April 23, 2023

44 billion dollars to force us to hear you announce you’re getting rid of something that was beneficial, having everyone point out why it would be a loss, just to go through with it, choosing who’s to pay for it to make it appear that they bought it, to undo it all 2 days later
— Psychic Daydreamer (@PsychicCancer) April 23, 2023

I’m not surprised Elon Musk is returning Legacy blue tick. Taking off celebrity’s verification badge was a bad idea in the first place, Twitter will lose a lot of active users if that action was not reversed.
— LERRY (@_AsiwajuLerry) April 22, 2023

People are saying they didn't pay, Nigerians are arguing with them because they believe Elon over the people who are expressing their surprise at seeing verification badges they didn't pay for. It's interesting because Elon admitted to paying for some people yesterday.
— Self-made Assassin 💀 (@Vigro_Writes) April 23, 2023

2/ The only good reason for verification is to halt impersonation. I don't have people impersonating me, at least not often, ergo, I don't care about it. It's not and never should be a status symbol and status symbols shouldn't be something you can buy like that anyway
— Shade (@Shade_Aurion) April 23, 2023