The Federal Government on Wednesday said Twitter must comply with its rules to continue operation in Nigeria.
While listing the conditions under which it would allow the social media to operate again in Nigeria, the government said it must be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, should obtain the licence to operate in the country from the National Broadcasting Commission and must pay taxes to the Nigerian government.
It added that Twitter must not allow people trying to bring down the country on its platform.
This was revealed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed in Abuja after the Federal Executive Council meeting.
According to him, Twitter had made contact with the government for “senior-level talks”, said what is important to the government “is the sovereignty of Nigeria”.
He insisted that all other Over-The-Top (OTT) service providers must run as real businesses in Nigeria by paying their taxes.
“We will. Our conditions are already laid out: one, to do business in Nigeria, they must register as Nigerian companies; two, you must be licensed. Three, they will have to refrain from using the platform for activities that are inimical to the growth of Nigeria, to the corporate existence of Nigeria. From there, any other issue will come in. We already talked to them.
”On Friday, also the government directed the regulatory body, the National Broadcasting Commission, to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT, Over The Top social media operations in Nigeria.
”And I believe that we’ve done that I think by today, that advert is out asking that all OTT, and social media coverage operating in Nigeria should apply for registration and licensing.
”I want to repeat that it is because Twitter has consistently made its platform available to those who are threatening Nigeria’s corporate existence. That is the reason for suspending their operations in Nigeria.
”We have found out that Twitter is the platform of choice for a particular separatist leader who resides outside the country and issues directives to its members to attack symbols of government authority, such as the police, the military, the Electoral Commission offices, correctional centres, etc. And this is being done willfully and consistently without any consequences from Twitter.
”You know, no country worth its name will not tolerate that. And no company, no matter its self-importance, will force any nation to accept this.
”It may interest you to know that most of the OTT and social media platforms operating in Nigeria do not have any office in Nigeria and do not pay taxes to the Nigerian government for the billions they earn here. That is not the best practice globally, and that is why we are insisting that for you to operate in Nigeria you must first be a Nigerian company and be licensed by the broadcasting commission”, he said.