Key highlights

• Twitter has removed blue verification badges from top Nigerian politicians, celebrities, and government agencies as part of Elon Musk’s plan to remove legacy checkmarks.
• To get verified again, those affected will need to subscribe to Twitter Blue.
• Subscription fees for Twitter Blue are N3,560 per month for individual Nigerians and N460,500 per month for businesses.
• Before Elon Musk bought Twitter, getting verified on Twitter was free, but the introduction of paid subscriptions means anyone can now get verified for a monthly fee.

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Nigeria’s President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and other top politicians in Nigeria have lost their Twitter blue verification badge.

This came as Elon Musk implements the removal of legacy checkmarks from all Twitter accounts.

The exercise also affected several government agencies in Nigeria and top celebrities, who will now have to pay for the subscription or remain without a distinguishing mark.

Many top politicians and celebrities in Nigeria have lost the blue checkmarks that distinguish their accounts as original on Twitter. This came as Elon Musk on Thursday implemented his planned removal of legacy blue check in his bid to force users to subscribe to the $ 8-a-month package.

Top politicians in Nigeria that have lost their recognition on Twitter include the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, who currently has 1.8 million followers on the platform. Also, the first runner-up in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, with his 4.9 million followers has had his account stripped of verification.

Similarly, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the recently concluded elections, Peter Obi, has lost his legacy blue checkmark.

Top celebrities affected

Aside from the politicians, the removal of the legacy blue checkmark shows that many celebrities in Nigeria are yet to subscribe to paid Twitter verification. One of such is popular comedian, Ayo Makun (AY) with 2.2 million followers on Twitter, who is now without a verification mark.

Female singer, Tiwa Savage, with 5.8 million followers on Twitter has also been stripped of the verification and it is now difficult to distinguish between the several fake Twitter accounts in her name and the original one except for the number of followers.

Government agencies too

Meanwhile, top government agencies on the platform have also lost their checkmarks. These include Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria Customs, Federal Road Safety Corp. (FRSC), among others.

What it means

With the legacy checkmark gone, all affected Twitter users that want to get verified again will now have to subscribe, or they remain without a checkmark, which will make it very difficult for people to distinguish their original accounts from fake ones.

Twitter recently announced that individual Nigerians that want to subscribe to Twitter Blue will be paying N3,560 per month. However, the company is offering a discount to subscribers that pay for one year of N38,500, which amounts to N3,208 per month.

According to Twitter, businesses that want to get the verified badge will have to pay s sum of N460,500 every month. In addition, the organizations will also pay an extra N23,030 monthly for each business or individual affiliated with them to get verified.

What you should know

Before Elon Musk bought Twitter in October last year, getting verified on Twitter was free and the account owners had to go through the long process of verifying their identities, which include submitting government-issued ID cards. Only individuals with recognized achievements were getting verified. However, with the paid subscription introduced by Musk, anybody can get verified so far he or she can afford the monthly subscription fee.

Several recent reports suggested that Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion had recently discovered that the company is now worth less than half the price as ad revenue dwindles. The reports indicated that this discovery has pushed Musk to start devising means of making the company profitable. Musk had also recently tweeted that Twitter was on the verge of bankruptcy when he took over, but might stabilise by the end of Q1 2023.