The Federal Government is very close to resolving the issues that led to the ban of Twitter in the country, Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, has said.
Mr Mohammed, on Wednesday, spoke to State House journalists on the status of the talks between Twitter and the government.
“I think even Twitter itself two days ago gave what I will call a progress report on our talks with them. And I think if I want to quote them correctly, it has been productive and quite respectful.
“And as to how soon is soon, right? I want to assure you that between the time that Twitter operation has been suspended, and when it will be restored is by far, much, much shorter.
“In other words, if the operation has been suspended for about 100 days now, I can tell you that we’re just actually talking about a few, just a few more days now.
“I can assure you that we’re mindful of the anxiety of Nigerians and both parties are working very hard to put a closure on the matter.
“And like Twitter itself said, the changes have been very, very productive on both parties.”
The minister added that: “Honestly, we have gone very far. I won’t be specific but we have gone very far, and honestly, it’s just going to be very, very soon, just take my word for that.”
On June 4, the government indefinitely suspended Twitter’s operation after the microblogging site deleted tweets made by President Muhammadu Buhari on the Nigerian Civil War while reacting to the violent activities of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
However, the government later attributed the suspension to “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
In August, the government said it had made “tremendous progress” in resolving the impasse following a series of meetings — and that “an amicable solution is very much in sight”.
