By Olokuta Rofiat
Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the 2021 suspension of Twitter was one of the toughest decisions he took in office.
In an interview on his new book, Mohammed insisted the action was taken in the national interest, not because Twitter deleted a tweet by then President Muhammadu Buhari.
He argued that the platform had become a hub for groups “destabilising the country,” making government intervention necessary.
Mohammed also defended the administration’s push to regulate social media, warning that unregulated platforms could become “a disaster.”
The Twitter suspension, imposed shortly after the deletion of Buhari’s civil-war-related post, lasted until January 2022, when the government lifted it after the company agreed to set conditions.
