President Muhammadu Buhari has lifted the suspension of Twitter operations in the country.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by Kashifu Abdullahi, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and Chairman Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement on Wednesday, January 13, 2022.
In the statement, it was gathered that the approval followed a memo written to the president by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.
The government said it has reached an acceptable solution with Twitter on various terms and conditions that were given to the micro-blogging platform, while also revealing that the lifting will be effective from midnight on January 13, 2022.
According to the statement, it reads “Twitter has committed to establishing a legal entity in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2022. The legal entity will register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The establishment of the entity is Twitter’s first step in demonstrating its long-term commitment to Nigeria,” the statement reads.
“Twitter has agreed to appoint a designated country representative to interface with Nigerian authorities. The Global Public Policy team is also directly available through a dedicated communication channel.
“Twitter has agreed to comply with applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian law.
“Twitter has agreed to enroll Nigeria in its Partner Support and Law Enforcement Portals. The Partner Support Portal provides a direct channel for government officials and Twitter staff to manage prohibited content that violates Twitter community rules. At the same time, the Law Enforcement Portal provides a channel for the law enforcement agencies to submit a report with a legal justification where it suspects that content violates Nigerian Laws. Taken together, these represent a comprehensive compliance apparatus.”
The statement further stated that the micro-blogging site has “agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgment of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history on which such legislation has been built and work with the FGN and the broader industry to develop a Code of Conduct in line with global best practices, applicable in almost all developed countries”.
Recall In June 2021, the federal government declared openly the indefinite suspension of Twitter’s operation after the platform deleted tweets made by President Muhammadu Buhari, who had threatened to treat members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the “language they understand”.
Buhari had linked the suspension to “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
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