The Federal Government has said that the management of the micro-blogging platform, Twitter, has reached out for negotiation following the suspension of its operations in Nigeria.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made the claim today, Wednesday, fielding questions from state house correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He alleged that Twitter and other social media service providers, also known as over-the-top (OTT) media service providers, had been cheating Nigeria by not paying their due taxes.
According to Lai Mohammed, the federal government has come to the resolution that all OTT service providers that wish to continue operating in Nigeria must be registered as Nigerian companies. He also disclosed that investigations revealed that the Founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, was one of the funders of the #ENDSARS protest in Nigeria in 2020.
The minister said the government was not stifling freedom of speech by banning Twitter as Nigerians have other platforms they could use to express their opinions.
When asked about the law under which Nigerians who violated the Twitter ban would be prosecuted, Lai asked that the question be directed to the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
