Buhari names six ministers to dialogue with Twitter over ban

President Muhammadu Buhari has named six ministers to dialogue with Twitter over the indefinite ban slammed on giant social network.

In a statement by Information Minister, Lai Mohammed on Tuesday, who is expected to lead the team, the president named Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy; Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing, and Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour and Employment as members of the delegation.

The development comes weeks after Twitter said it has written to the Nigerian government and was ready for an open discussion.

Trouble began after the social media deleted a tweet of Mr Buhari deemed genocidal which Twitter said violated its rules.

The president was threatening to redeploy his experience during the Nigeria-Biafra civil war in dealing with Igbos whom he said want him to fail. He was reacting to the incessant attacks on security facilities and government infrastructures in the former eastern region comprising of today’s South-East and South-South geo-political zones.

Barely 48 hours later the government ordered telecoms providers to block access to the U.S platform but defiant Nigerians resorted to the use of Virtual Private Network VPN to bypass the ban despite the government’s threat to prosecute them.

Meanwhile, an ECOWAS court sitting in Abuja has barred the government from arresting and prosecuting Twitter users in the country.