By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal Government of Nigeria has lifted its suspension on the microblogging site, Twitter, after seven months.
The decision was announced by Mr Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Chairman Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement and Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Mr Kashifu, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, said the approval was given following a memo written to President Muhammadu Buhari by Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr Isa Ali Ibrahim.
He said: “The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) directs me to inform the public that President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has approved the lifting of the suspension of Twitter operation in Nigeria effective from 12 am tonight, 13th January 2022.
“The approval was given following a memo written to the President by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim.
“In the Memo, the Minister updated and requested the President’s approval for the lifting based on the Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement’s recommendation.”
President Buhari had stated in his address to mark Nigeria’s 61st independence anniversary that the federal government would only remove the Twitter ban if certain conditions, including concerns around national security, are met.
Business Post as at the time of this report cannot confirm if any of the conditions were met, but the platform was suspended on June 4, 2021, after the deletion of a post by Mr Buhari.
Since the Twitter ban in Nigeria, some people had been using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to bypass the restrictions. This newspaper can confirm users in the country can now access Twitter without the assistance of a VPN.
Modupe Gbadeyanka