Nigeria’s federal government has said social media platform, Twitter, must register in the country before a ban it slammed on its operations last week can be lifted.
Minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who gave the condition while speaking to state house correspondents after the meeting of the federal executive council (FEC) on Wednesday, said the management of Twitter has reached out for a “high-level discussion” to resolve the issue that led to the suspension of its operations in Nigeria.
The meeting, which held at the presidential villa, Abuja, was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mohammed said other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram must also be registered in the country.
According to him, freedom of speech was not stifled by the suspension of Twitter since Nigerians can still use other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
He added that Twitter’s loss of money as a result of the suspension is an indication of its effectiveness.
Mohammed said the suspension was necessary because the micro-blogging site provided a platform for those that are threatening the existence of Nigeria.
The minister alleged that Twitter allowed Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to use its platform to call for the killing of policemen, noting that the platform failed to take down Kanu’s tweets despite repeated requests to do so.
