President Muhammadu Buhari-led government on Tuesday threatened to suspend all social media platforms that allow their apps to be used to propagate the division of Nigeria through their posts.
The Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made this claim on Tuesday before the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Information, Justice, and Communication at the National Assembly.
The minister was invited to the House to answering questions on the ban on Twitter.
Mohammed further stated that the social media platform made its platform available as a choice for people who want to destabilise and cause disunity in Nigeria.
“We want Twitter to be registered first in the country before they can operate,” he said.
On whether any channel of dialogue had been opened with Twitter, the minister said “we tried to but they rebuffed us. They are not known to us. They are not registered, but we hope we will be able to engage them”
He lamented that the organisation had no investment in Nigeria, but in Ghana, while the target market was Nigeria.
Mohammed also denied the belief that the platform was suspended to stifle free speech and press freedom.
“There was no intention of the federal government to stifle free speech in the country. The only reason we suspended Twitter is that it was promoting disunity. Its activities are inimical to the unity of the country,” Mohammed insisted.
The minister added that the Nigeria Government will not hesitate to suspend other social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google hangout, and others if they are found to be promoting posts or statements capable of destabilising the country.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News