President Buhari Has Approved The Partial Lifting Of The Country Twitter Ban
President Buhari has approved the partial lifting of the country's Twitter ban
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the conditional lifting of the ban on Twitter, which was imposed two weeks after the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced that the Federal Government would soon lift the ban on the microblogging platform. Twitter has been blocked in Nigeria since June of this year.
Nigeria's 61st Independence Anniversary was marked with a broadcast from the state house in Abuja, where the president made this announcement.
As a result, he stated that the Presidential Committee established (along with its Technical Team) to engage Twitter in order to explore the possibility of resolving the issue that resulted in the suspension of Twitter's activities in Nigeria had successfully addressed a number of critical issues.
President Buhari said the following in his speech: In collaboration with its Technical Team, the Committee has engaged with Twitter and addressed a number of critical issues. In particular, they are: "National Security and Cohesion; Registration; Physical Presence and Representation; Fair Taxation; Dispute Resolution; and Local Content."
“Following the extensive engagements, the issues are being addressed and I have directed that the suspension be lifted but only if the conditions are met to allow our citizens continue the use of the platform for business and positive engagements”, he concludes on that matter.
The committee, which was established in July and is led by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, is comprised of representatives from various government departments. Members of the committee include Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, as well as the Ministers of Communications and Digital Economy Dr Isa Pantami and Geoffrey Onyeama, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defense.
A little background information
As previously reported, on June 4, the Nigerian government suspended Twitter after it removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari in which he threatened to punish regional secessionists. In addition, some telecoms companies in the country had blocked access to users in Nigeria.
The tweet, which was removed by Twitter on June 2nd, made reference to the 1967-70 civil war in a way that the company deemed to be in violation of its "abusive behavior" policy, according to Twitter.
Following that, the Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, announced that citizens who violated the Twitter ban would be prosecuted, but this was not followed through on by the government. There have also been reports that the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation has asked media organizations to avoid using the platform altogether.
Observers speculated that the lack of action could be related to a ruling by a West African court on June 22 that stated that the Nigerian authorities could not prosecute people for using the service while a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban was being considered.
National and international condemnation of the ban has been voiced by Nigerians as well as foreign ambassadors, human rights organizations, and other institutions. Also widely condemned is the fact that it appears to be in violation of Section 39 (1) of Nigeria's constitution, as well as Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which Nigeria has ratified and domesticated into national law.
Despite the fact that the government has boasted about the certainty of Twitter's demise, reports have revealed that the ban has had a negative impact on the nation's economic health. Each day that the Twitter ban remains in effect costs Nigeria approximately N2.18 billion, according to NetBlocks, a watchdog organization that monitors cyber-security and internet administration.
