President Muhammadu Buhari has again locked the comment section for tweets on his verified Twitter account, @MBuhari.
Twitter had introduced the moderation tool in May 2020, to allow users control trolls, irrelevant, insulting or disagreeable comments on their posts.
A check by SaharaReporters on Buhari’s Twitter page showed that the President can only have one-sided conversations on the social media platform.
All the tweets he sent out from January 15, 2021 could no longer be commented on by Nigerians who always took advantage of the app to express their grievances or support for government policies.
An attempt by SaharaReporters to reply to his latest post announcing the sacking of service chiefs was not successful.
A message from twitter popped up saying only those mentioned in the tweet can reply.
“I have accepted the immediate resignation of the Service Chiefs, and their retirement from service. I thank them all for their overwhelming achievements in our efforts at bringing enduring peace to Nigeria, and wish them well in their future endeavours.
I have also appointed new Service Chiefs, to replace the retired officers:
Major-General Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff
Major-General I. Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff
Rear Admiral A.Z Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff
Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao, Chief of Air Staff.
— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) January 26, 2021
“I have also appointed new Service Chiefs, to replace the retired officers: Major-General Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General I. Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral A. Z. Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff; Air-Vice Marshal I. O. Amao, Chief of Air Staff,” the tweet had read.
This is however not the first time tweets by Buhari could not be replied to.
A check by SaharaReporters showed that the President blocked Nigerians from commenting on his Twitter posts in September and November 2020.
Buhari has also since stopped people from tagging him on another social media platform, Instagram.
