The suspension of the microblogging site, Twitter, will soon be lifted “in a matter of days”, the Federal Government has disclosed.
Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.
The Federal Government had on 4 June announced the suspension of Twitter, two days after the microblogging site deleted a tweet of President Muhammadu Buhari after it was deemed to have “violated the Twitter rules”.
The Federal Government subsequently set up a team to negotiate with Twitter. The team comprises Mohammed as Chairman; Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami; Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo.
Providing an update on the negotiation on Wednesday, Mohammed said progress has been made in resolving the stalemate following series of meetings.
According to the minister, Twitter has accepted the majority of the conditions made by the Nigerian government for the resumption of its operation.
He, however, noted that issues yet to be fully resolved include Twitter setting up an office in Nigeria, and having a Twitter staff of management cadre that will serve as the country representative.
He stated that Twitter has agreed to establish an office in Nigeria, although the company insisted that the earliest it can establish that is 2022.
Mohammed expressed confidence that all outstanding matters with Twitter will be resolved within “a matter days or weeks”, adding that the Federal Government’s committee negotiating with Twitter will meet on the agreement soon to make recommendations.
