Festus Keyamo, Nigeria's Minister of State for Labour and Employment, said talks to repeal the Twitter ban are ongoing, with just a few requirements to be completed.
Mr Keyamo addressed why the ban has not been abolished in an appearance on Channels Television's Politics Today on Sunday, while discussing about the federal government's vow to repeal it in September.
On June 4, the microblogging platform's operations in Nigeria were banned, two days after a contentious remark was erased by Twitter. Twitter, on the other hand, has been accused by the Nigerian government of fostering unrest in the country.
In his explanation, the minister, who is one of the cabinet members engaged in the Twitter talks, stated that Twitter had agreed to all of the Nigerian government's criteria with the exception of "timelines," which he identified as the lone stumbling block.
"To put that in context, it was Twitter that contacted the federal government to inquire about what they can do to improve their relationship with the federal government. As a result, we've come a long way. I may not say much on this forum, but we provide them a lot of requirements, and they have accepted to all of them. What's left now are the deadlines for meeting those requirements.
"As soon as those deadlines arrive and they meet those standards, Twitter will resume operations in Nigeria." They are fully aware of our requirements. And these are incredibly altruistic things," Mr Keyamo remarked.
He said that the social media behemoth has promised to pay taxes to the Nigerian government and to open a physical office in the country where users can lodge grievances.
When Twitter announced its plan to establish its regional headquarters in Ghana rather than Nigeria, where it has greater patronage, it sparked a discussion in Nigeria.
It cited "free expression, online freedom, and an open internet" as reasons, which irritated Nigerian government authorities.
"So, they've accepted to taxes, and they've agreed to create an office in Nigeria so that we can have some, you know, face-to-face complaints so that we don't have to go via algorithms to complain about the actions of some people who use Twitter to disrupt the current administration."
"When sending out messages or tweeting things that have the potential to break us apart, there are some limits that should not be crossed." For example, things aren't capable of igniting a fire in our nation, but to utilize such platforms to promote and disseminate some of these beliefs," Mr Keyamo said on the late Sunday night show.
Mr. Keyamo further stated that the technical committee established to interface with Twitter is now working on a code of conduct that would govern not just the method of participation on Twitter but also on other social media platforms.
