Published 5th Jun, 2021

By Adeola Oladipupo

Despite the directive by Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister Justice, for the immediate prosecution of violators of the Federal Government’s ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria, the accounts of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Presidency continue to exist.

Although there have not been tweets from both Buhari and the Nigerian Government’s accounts in the last 24 hours, it is not clear why they have not deleted their Twitter accounts since the indefinite suspension was announced on Friday afternoon.

Screenshot of President Buhari’s Twitter account

The verified Twitter account of Buhari was opened in December 2014 and it is followed by 4.1million people. The verified account of the Nigerian account government was setup in January 2015 and it has 2.3million followers. The Twitter account of First Lady Aisha Buhari, meanwhile, is gone; she left Twitter in the early hours of Saturday in solidarity with the government.

Screenshot of the Nigerian Government’s Twitter account

Earlier on Saturday, Malami had instructed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) at the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to “swing into action and commence in earnest the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government de-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria”.

He said that the DPPF should liase with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communications Commission to prosecute offenders without delay.

Share on Social Media