Some prominent Nigerian politicians have lost their free verification badges on their Twitter account after the microblogging platform removed the ’blue tick(s)’ on Thursday.
Some of the Nigerian politicians affected by the sweeping move by Twitter include President Muhammadu Buhari, President-elect, Bola Tinubu; Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, among others.
Checks by METROWATCHXTRA.COM on Friday showed that the blue verification badges on their account have been removed.
Equally affected by the development are some top Nigerian journalists and popular celebrities.
The development is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. Some renowned world leaders including the Pope, and Twitter’s most-followed athlete, Cristiano Ronaldo, have all lost their verification badge.
The latest action by Twitter is part of the rebranding efforts by the platform’s new Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, who had announced the final date for the free blue badge removal to be on April 20, 2023.
Twitter users will now pay a monthly or annual subscription fee to have their accounts verified. The ticks now come in different colours including blue, gold etc.
