The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, citing the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
The Minister said the Federal Government has also directed the
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the
process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.
It would be recalled that Twitter two days ago deleted President Buhari’s tweet which was considered to be threatening some section of Nigeria.
Many Nigerians on social media lambasted President Buhari for tweeting such comment, describing it as un-presidential.
The tweet, which many people said reminded Nigerians of the Eastern extraction of the country’s civil war, was also said to be dictatorial and discriminatory.