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Former information minister Lai Mohammed has said the suspension of Twitter, now known as X, in Nigeria in 2021 was taken on national security grounds, arguing that the platform had become a tool for groups seeking to destabilise the country.
In an interview with News Central TV, Mohammed made the statement while talking about choices made under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
“The idea of Twitter being suspended was on national security,” Mohammed said In an interview with Mr. Kay on 60 Minutes on News Central TV on Thursday, adding that the platform had become “the platform of choice for those who want to destabilise this country,” citing the separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
He said he personally briefed Buhari before the decision was taken and recalled that the former president asked whether the move was linked to the deletion of a tweet from his account.
“He asked me, ‘Is it because they deleted my Twitter?’” Mohammed said. “I said, ‘No, Excellency,’ and I told him why.”
According to Mohammed, Buhari also asked whether the government had the capacity to enforce the suspension.
“He asked if we had the capacity, and I said yes. I had already spoken with the Minister of Communications,” he said.
Mohammed described the suspension as one of the most difficult decisions of his tenure but said it was taken in the interest of national security and stability.
“It was one of the toughest decisions I had with him,” he said. “For national security and national stability, I had to take it, and I have no regret whatsoever.”
He noted that at the time of the suspension, Twitter was not registered as a company operating in Nigeria and did not pay local taxes.
“Until that time, Twitter was not even registered as a company in Nigeria,” Mohammed said. “They paid no taxes. They were making tonnes and tonnes of dollars in Nigeria.”
He said the suspension led to negotiations between the company and Nigerian authorities, resulting in Twitter registering to operate in the country under agreed conditions.
“It was that suspension of Twitter that pushed Twitter to come to the negotiation table, be registered as a company operating in Nigeria, and have parameters for how they could operate,” he said. He added that the company now pays taxes, referencing records from the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
“I keep telling people, it is because there is a country called Nigeria that there is social media. there is television, and there is newspaper. If a country allows itself to be plunged into any war as a result of the recklessness of social media, where will we be today?”
Twitter was suspended in Nigeria in June 2021, two days after the platform removed a tweet by Buhari that warned regional secessionists following attacks on government facilities.
In the deleted post, Buhari said, “Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”
At the time, the government said the ban was because of “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.” Telecommunications companies were subsequently directed to block access to Twitter.
“The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria,” Ministry of Information and Culture spokesman Segun Adeyemi said in a statement.
