Buhari’s Twitter Agreement Confirms Government Strategy Was Spot-On – Lai Mohammed

Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has explained that the Muhammadu Buhari administration suspended Twitter (now ) due to the risks associated with unregulated social media activities.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

In an interview with Channels Television, Mohammed revealed that prior to the suspension, was not registered to operate in Nigeria. He stated that the subsequent agreement reached with the platform validated the government’s decision.

Referring to his book Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments That Define an Administration, he highlighted that it documents all correspondence between Nigeria and Twitter before the ban was lifted.

He said, “When you go through this book, you’ll see all the correspondence between us and Twitter. The agreement that was signed shows that Twitter was not even registered in Nigeria to do business at that time, let alone pay taxes. You can verify this with the NCC and other relevant agencies. It’s clear that, yes, we did the right thing.”

Mohammed emphasized that the government’s action was motivated by concerns for national unity and the dangers of unregulated social media, rather than ego or political vendetta.

“There is a country called Nigeria, where freedom exists, but it must not be exploited to the extent of pitting one region against another. Social media was becoming dangerous to society in ways television, radio, and newspapers—where gatekeepers exist—are not,” he explained.

He traced the government’s concerns back to 2017, when he began advocating against fake news, hate speech, and disinformation. Mohammed noted that the government initially promoted self-regulation by social media companies instead of introducing legislation.

“I started the campaign against fake news and disinformation in 2017. I visited media houses to help combat the dangers of fake news, hate speech, and disinformation. We invited several microblogging platforms to encourage self-regulation. We weren’t considering laws to stifle the media, but we recognized that unregulated social media posed a real danger to society,” he said.

The former minister added that some platforms were eventually misused by individuals seeking to undermine Nigeria’s unity and stability, despite repeated government warnings.

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