Nigerian former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has mocked the Federal Government over ban placed on operations of social media giant, Twitter, barely fourty-eight hours after the organisation removed President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweets bordering on Nigerian civil war on its platform.
The apex government banned the American microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, from operating in Nigeria on Friday afternoon. It said that decisions to place a suspension on operations of the social networking service across the country were reached after it became obvious that the platform was been used to portray the government badly.
Announcing the ban on operations, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, alleged that the foreign firm has allowed its platform to be used for activities that were capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
Muhammed, in a statement released on Friday by Special Assistant to the President on Media, Segun Adeyemi, which was also published on the government’s Twitter account, stressed that the government, who had been appealing to foreign investors to set up offices in Nigeria, took the decision basically to protect sovereignty of the country.
The Minister, meanwhile, disclosed that the central government has directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all online and social media operations across the country.
However, while reacting to ban in a subtle mocking manner, Atiku expressed optimism that his post to the development would not be his last on the platform.
“Hopefully, this isn’t my last tweet. #smile,” the Peoples Democratic Party 2019 presidential candidate wrote on his verified Twitter account on Friday. The post has attracted over 23,000 likes as at the time of filing this report.
On his part, former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who described the decision as insensitive expressed regret that the Buhari-led administration could take such strigent measures with the country’s current realities.
“No sir! This should not be the response from the president of a nation with a vibrant youthful population for whom #Twitter is part of their daily lives and a source of their income and livelihood. This must be reviewed,” he wrote on his social media page.
