The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami on Tuesday, disclosed that he has deactivated his Twitter account. However, checks by POLITICS NIGERIA on the screenshot attached to the post, showed that Mr Malami accessed the microblogging platform with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Appearing conspicuously at the top right side of his phone is the VPN icon.
This is however in violation of the federal government suspension of Twitter activities in Nigeria.
“Malami directed 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.
Malami directed the DPPF to liase with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communication Communication (NCC) and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of offenders without any further delay, ” Mr Malami’s publicist, Umar Gwandu, had said on Saturday.
It however remains unclear if the order from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation will be effected on Mr Malami. POLITICS NIGERIA had earlier reported how Nigeria’s information minister Lai Mohammed announced a ban on activities of the microblogging platform on Friday.
He added that the federal government directive had ordered the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to “immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.” As a result of the restrictions, Nigerians have been denied access to Twitter and can only access by bypassing domain restrictions through alternative mediums.
The suspension is sequel to Twitter’s deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s controversial tweet about the civil war after some Nigerian users flagged it. The government, in its response, accused the platform of bias against President Buhari and undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
Although the presidency says the ban is temporary and an attempt to curb fake news, human rights and foreign missions have berated the President Buhari-led administration for censorship, calling for a reversal of the suspension.
