by Nigerian News24 Correspondents
Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has disclosed the question former President Muhammadu Buhari asked him before the 2021 decision to suspend Twitter in Nigeria.
Speaking on Channels Television on Tuesday, Mohammed said Buhari asked whether he had the capacity to implement the suspension, to which he replied in the affirmative. He also dismissed claims that the move was aimed at protecting the political class. Instead, he said the suspension was due to unresolved regulatory concerns following long-standing engagements with the platform.
“When we took the decision to suspend the operations of Twitter, the President, God bless his soul, asked me only one question: do I have the capacity to do so? And I said yes. I discussed with my colleague, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy. But the sole purpose why we suspended the operation of Twitter was because it was becoming reckless,” Mohammed explained.
Twitter’s operations were restored in 2022 after a 222-day suspension, following an agreement with the Nigerian government. Under the deal, Twitter committed to establishing a legal presence in Nigeria, paying relevant taxes, appointing a country representative, and cooperating on content regulation.
While some aspects of the agreement reportedly took time to fully implement, the government has consistently maintained that the measures were aimed at safeguarding national interest, not curbing free expression.