ABUJA – Hon. Musa Bagos, the Representative of Jos North/South Federal Constitency of Plateau State has said that he has rejected the Hate Speech Bill before the Senate and his constituents have also rejected it.
The lawmaker who was piqued by this development, addressed journalists on the controversial Bill at the National Assembly, said that it was an infringement on the fundamental rights of citizens to freedom of speech and expressed his reservations over the legislation.
Bagos said that as a legislators, he had sworn to protect the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and added that the proposed legislation will jeopardize the right of citizens of Nigeria to right to life and freedom of expression.
He noted that the 1999 Constitution guarantees that the citizens have right to freely express their opinion without interference and insisted that the proposed legislation will be taking our nation to the days of anarchy.
“We are monitoring what is happening at the Senate. But before it gets to the House, I have already sent a letter to our Senator stating our position on the rejection of the bill by my constituents”.
He assured that he and some of his colleagues will not allow the controversial Bill to be passed in the green chamber and added that democracy cannot be subjected to the whims and caprices of only a few individuals in the society.
He added that he will always ensure that the right thing is done by the House in all issues at all time especially in terms of law making.
It will be recall that the controversial bill which was sponsored by Sen. Dr. Aliyu Abdullahi Sabi had provided for instant death sentence for hate speech among other punitive provisions on the use of social media in Nigeria.
