Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has detailed the Federal Government’s reasons for suspending Twitter in Nigeria in 2021, stressing that the action was not prompted by the deletion of a tweet by the late President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mohammed made the clarification during the launch of his new book, Headlines & Soundbites: Media Moments That Defined an Administration, in Abuja on Wednesday.

He noted that although the timing of Twitter’s deletion of Buhari’s tweet in June 2021 created a misleading impression, the suspension was part of broader government concerns about the platform’s use for activities that could threaten national unity and stability.
“While Twitter claimed it removed the President’s tweet under its ‘abusive behaviour’ policy, the platform had consistently left up far worse posts, despite formal protestations,” he said, citing a tweet by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra, which he described as violent and inciting yet left online by the platform.

Mohammed stressed that the government had repeatedly warned social media companies against allowing their platforms to be used for fake news, disinformation, and hate speech.

He further pointed at the #EndSARS protests of October 2020 as a period when such unverified content on Twitter escalated tensions and contributed to violence.
“Our concerns deepened during the #EndSARS protest of October 2020, when Twitter became the platform of choice for those spreading fake news and disinformation. Unverified images and videos were amplified, inflaming passions and transforming a peaceful protest into widespread violence,” he said.

According to Mohammed, the suspension was undertaken after careful consideration and with the explicit approval of President Buhari.
“For the record, when I approached President Buhari to inform him of my intention to suspend Twitter, he asked me two direct questions: Are you suspending Twitter because it deleted my post? I answered in the negative. Do you have the capacity to block the platform? I answered in the affirmative. The President then gave me his approval,” he recalled.