Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, stated Wednesday that Twitter negotiated with the Federal Government following the suspension of the microblogging site.
Speaking in Abuja at the 13th edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration’s Scorecard Series (2015-2023), he called a former top Twitter official’s allegation that there was no negotiation between the firm and Nigeria prior to the suspension’s lifting absurd.
On January 13, the government lifted the suspension it had imposed on Twitter operations until June 4, 2021, after the social media platform deleted a message by Buhari for “violation of the company’s abusive behaviour code.”
The minister claimed Wednesday that Nigeria and Twitter were in a drawn-out negotiation at the latter’s request.
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“Seven days after the suspension, precisely on June 11th 2021, we received a letter, addressed to Mr. President, from Twitter’s Vice President in charge of Public Policy, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Sinead McSweeney, seeking to meet with us on the Twitter suspension. That letter kick-started a number of activities that culminated in extensive negotiation.
“After the letter, the Federal Government announced its team to discuss with Twitter.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, the Minister of Justice, the Ministers of Communications and the Digital Economy, Foreign Affairs, as well as Works and Housing, the Minister of State for Labor and Employment, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency made up the team, which was chaired by the Minister of Information and Culture.
“Shortly after our team was put together, we got another letter from Albright Stonebridge Group, who appeared to be acting on Twitter’s orders. The Twitter team was designated in the letter (which was also displayed on screens and made available to the media) as the party to engage Nigeria in conversation.
The result of the back-and-forth negotiations was a series of agreements that made it possible for Twitter to lift its suspension in January of this year.
