The United States-based microblogging giant, Twitter has reached out to the Nigerian Government for talks, says minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The Nigerian Government had suspended Twitter’s operation in the country on Friday, for deleting a tweet made by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking with State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC), the minister said Twitter had reached out to the government seeking high-level discussion to resolve the issue.
He said that he got the message on Wednesday morning.
Mohammed stressed that the microblogging platform was suspended because it provided an avenue for people threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria.
According to him, the owner of Twitter helped to fund the recent #EndSARS protest while allowing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, use the platform to call for the killing of policemen.
He said Twitter failed to take down Kanu’s tweets despite repeated requests to do so.
Mohammed listed conditions that must be met even if there is a discussion with Twitter including that it must now be registered in Nigeria as a business concern.
Apart from Twitter, he said other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram must be registered in the country.
He said freedom of speech has not been stifled by the suspension of Twitter as Nigerians can still use other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
He dismissed the notion the suspension is not effective, wondering why Twitter is losing money as a result of the action if such view is genuine.
