The Federal Government has revealed plans to lift the ban placed on Twitter saying ‘very soon’.
The Federal government also revealed that a lot of progress has been made in the ongoing dialogue with the microblogging platform.
The Minister of information and Culture, Lai Mohammed made this revelation to State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the First Lady’s Conference room, presidential villa, on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to Lai Mohammed when asked to give an update on the ban and ongoing negotiations with Twitter said “The end for amicable resolution is very much insight. 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 almost there.
“The engagement has been extremely positive without any acrimony. We have made it clear what we want from Twitter.”
The Minister also acknowledged that some of the conditions the Federal Government gave Twitter are to establish a legal presence in the country by registering as a Nigerian company with an address.
Giving the assurance after 100 days of the Twitter ban, Mohammed said “Thank you very much. I think even Twitter itself two days ago gave what I will call a progress report on our talks with them. And I think if I want to quote them rightly, it has been productive and quite respectful.
“And as to how soon is soon, right? I want to assure you that the time that Twitter operation has been suspended, and when it will be restored is by far, much, much shorter. That I can assure you that it is by far. In other words, if the operation has been suspended for about 100 days now, I can tell you that we’re just actually talking about a few, just a few more days now.
“What we’re trying to do is the changes that have been going on, but we need to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. I can assure you that we’re mindful of the anxiety of Nigerians and both parties are working very hard to put a closure on the matter.
“And like Twitter itself said, the changes have been very, very productive on both parties.”
Also, when asked for a specifics date when the matter would be resolved, he said, “Honestly, we have gone very far, I won’t be specific but we have gone very far, and honestly, it’s just going to be very, very soon, just take my word for that.”
Stating further, he said, “Honestly, I can’t be more specific than what I’ve told you that it is going to be very soon. Thank you.”
Recall on June 4, the government had announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter’s operation following the deleting of tweets made by President Muhammadu Buhari, who had threatened to treat members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the “language they understand”.
The federal government had however attributed the suspension to “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
In August, the government said it had made “tremendous progress” in resolving the impasse following a series of meetings — and that an “an amicable solution is very much in sight”.
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