Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has waded in on the current suspension of Twitter operations by the Federal Government last Friday.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV on Monday, Mr Sanwo-Olu suggested that the Federal Government may have held a meeting and sought understanding with Twitter if the social media giant had an office in Nigeria.
He added that Twitter may have signed “some underlining agreement on the rules of engagement and I am not sure that is happening here,” suggesting perhaps Twitter should have rules by which it operates in the country.
He also suggested both sides (Twitter and the Government) should come together to resolve the issues rather than allow it to continue to degenerate to the detriment of Twitter-loving Nigerians and the economy. Sanwo-Olu also alluded that rather than being a ban what the government had done was suspend Twitter operations in Nigeria.
“On both sides, there are issues that can be resolved between Twitter and the Government and I think what they’ve done is not a ban but a suspension like they said, so in the period of suspension let us sit down…we need to have that conversation with them,” Sanwo-Olu stated.
When asked to make a judgement on the Federal Government reactive action of suspending the ban, the Governor threaded a balanced perspective of the ongoing division saying that he does not have the same information and responsibility as the President.
“Regarding the specifics around Twitter, I cannot sit down here with all of the responsibilities that I have and flay the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He might have had a prognosis and security information that I do not have. I cannot begin to say that was it done is right or wrong” he said.
The Federal Government announced on Friday it was suspending Twitter’s operations in the country. The move comes after Twitter deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari for breaching the site’s rules.
