Hate speech bill: No cause for alarm, say Fed Govt, Senate as PDP kicks

Augustine Ehikioya, Gbade Ogunwale and Sanni Onogu, Abuja

THE Federal Government on Wednesday said the Cyber Crimes Act has adequate provisions to regulate hate speech.

It urged Nigerians not to lose sleep over the Hate Speech Bill which proposes the death penalty, adding that the National Assembly would probably not pass the Bill into law in its current form.

Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemi Saraki, stated this while briefing State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC), meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The government’s position was echoed by the Senate, which said there is no cause for alarm as the controversial Bill still has many processes to undergo before becoming law.

But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned the Bill, describing it as savage, repressive, cruel and murderous.

Senator Saraki noted that even if the bill proposes the death penalty, it may not retain such particulars when passed into law.

She said: “It’s a bill, it’s not yet law. So, the sponsor of the bill might have put the death penalty there. I think we are jumping the gun a bit. As you said, he is proposing a bill, it is not yet an act.

“Be that as it may, I think the Cybercrime Act is a law already in Nigeria. The Cybercrime Act has the hate speech aspect in it.”

The Senate urged Nigerians to be patient with it on the Hate Speech Bill it introduced on Tuesday,

Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Godiya Akwashiki (Narasara North) said: “A bill is just a proposal before the National Assembly.

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“It has to go through three of four processes: first reading, whereby the Leader of the House would just mention it for first reading in the House.

“The second process is the second reading. The Bill has to be subjected to debate by other Senators and once that Bill scales second reading, it has to go to the Committee then come back to the House again.

“So, if it is a Bill that will represent the wishes and interests (of Nigerians), it would scale second reading. If it is a bill that would create a hardship or bring crisis for the people of a Nigeria, I want to assure that it will be killed on the floor of the Senate by other Senators when it comes for second reading.

“So, I want to urge Nigerians to exercise patience with the Senate because it is not wise or legally right for me to discuss a bill that has not been mentioned for the second time on the floor of the Senate.”

In a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP deplored the intention of the bill, particularly its prescription of the death penalty for offenders.

“Much as the PDP does not condone hate speech under any guise, our party rejects the bill as unconstitutional, undemocratic and a barbarous design targeted at official extermination of the voice of dissent and perceived opponents of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government.”