Nigeria Lifts Ban For Twitter, It's Their Deal

Twitter is back in operation in Nigeria. (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - Nigeria lifted a ban on Twitter operating from midnight January 12 after the social media platform agreed to open a local office in Nigeria. According to a senior Nigerian government official, Wednesday, January 12, this agreement is one among other agreements with the authorities in the West African country.

The Nigerian government suspended Twitter on June 4, 2021, after deleting a post by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari threatening to punish regional separatists. The telecommunications company then blocked access to users in Nigeria.

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency said in a statement that Buhari had given his approval to lift the suspension.

"Twitter has agreed to act with respect for Nigerian laws and the national culture and history on which these laws have been built...", Abdullahi's statement said, as quoted by Reuters.

"The (Twitter) company will work with the federal government and wider industry to develop a Code of Conduct in line with global best practice, which applies to almost all developed countries", he added.

"Therefore, (the federal government) lifted the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria from midnight January 13, 2022", he said.

Abdullahi, who also chairs a joint technical committee of Nigerian officials and Twitter, said the US company agreed to appoint state representatives to engage with Nigerian authorities and comply with local tax obligations.