President Muhammadu Buhari has mandated Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing, Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation and some other government officials to dialogue with Twitter over the ban of the microblogging site.
The mandate was announced in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday by Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who will chair the team.
Recall that Buhari-led federal government had indefinitely suspended Twitter’s operations over “activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
Despite pressure from the international community and civil right groups, Buhari government has maintained its stance.
However, in a statement on Tuesday, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information through Segun Adeyemi, his spokesman, announced that a team had been set up to dialogue with Twitter.
Mohammed noted that following the indefinite suspension, Twitter wrote to Buhari seeking to engage with the Federal Government over the suspension, with a view to charting a path forward.
Aside Fashola and Malami, other ministers on the team are Isa Pantami (Communication and Digital Economy), Chris Ngige (Labour), and Geoffrey Onyeama (Foreign Affairs).
It stated;
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the composition of the Federal Government’s team to engage with Twitter over the recent suspension of the operations of the microblogging and social networking service in
Nigeria.The Federal Government’s team also comprises the Attorney General of the Federation and Honourable Minister of Justice, Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Honourable Minister of State for Labour and Employment as well as other relevant government agencies.
Read Also: Suspension: ‘We Will Work To Restore Access’ – Twitter Reveals Next Line Of Action
He added;
Following the indefinite suspension of its operations in Nigeria, for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence, Twitter wrote to President Buhari seeking to engage with
the Federal Government over the suspension, with a view to. charting a path forward.
