Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement that the Twitter ban will be lifted, but only if certain conditions were met, the microblogging platform has said discussions with the federal government so far have been fruitful.
The social media platform, says it looks forward to having its operations reinstated in the most populous African country following “productive” discussions with its government.
“We continue to communicate with the Nigerian authorities and we are dedicated to charting a path forward to the restoration of Twitter for everyone in Nigeria,” a Twitter representative said on Friday. The Nigerian government has been respectful and productive in our discussions, and we hope to see the service restored soon.”
The federal government suspended the popular microblogging service from the country in June, citing acts that purportedly threatened the country’s corporate existence on the platform.
The ban came a day after Twitter deleted Buhari’s tweet threatening to deal with Igbo youths “in the language they understand”.
The tweet was deemed genocidal as it referenced the onslaught of the Nigerian state against Biafrans during the civil war.
Nigerians have only been able to access the site since then by using Virtual Private Networks to get over the government’s restrictions (VPNs).
Attorney-General Abubakar Malami had previously threatened to prosecute those who continued to use the platform, but later reversed his position, saying that only corporate entities would be prosecuted.
Following international outrage of Nigeria’s Twitter ban, as well as other diplomatic interventions, the Buhari administration established a commission to negotiate terms for the ban’s lifting in Nigeria.
