Despite Opposition, Senator Sabi Insists On Hate Speech Bill

Senator Abdullahi Sabi has insisted on going ahead to press for the passage of his controversial Hate Speech Bill by the National Assembly, despite opposition.

The bill had been overwhelmingly opposed by Nigerians at different levels due to the provision of death penalty for would-be offenders.

But Sabi, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said the death penalty provision in the bill would be removed to allay fears of Nigerians over the bill.

The senator, who was part of a delegation of political and traditional leaders from Niger State that visited President Muhamadu Buhari on Tuesday, spoke to reporters at the Presidential Villa.

“Because the baby is dirty, we can’t say the baby should be thrown away with the bathwater,” said Sabi.

“The death penalty was the main issue. I will ensure that the death penalty is put away from the bill.

“But Nigeria deserves to have a hate speech bill. There is so much hate speech in Nigeria,” he said.

The senator who represents Niger North Senatorial District warned that failure to regulate hate speech in Nigeria could make the country become the next Rwanda.

According to him, 80-90 per cent” of crises were “incited through hate speech, be they religious, ethnic or communal crises”.

THE WHISTLER had reported how prominent Nigerians like former vice president Atiku Abubakar, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, and the presiding bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, David Oyedepo, faulted the bill.

Atiku had described the proposed bill as “an abuse of the legislative process that will violate Nigerians’ constitutionally guaranteed right to Freedom of Speech.”

Ozekhome described part of the provisions of the bill as “bizarre”, warning that “this maverick and intolerant government cannot be trusted by any sane person to fairly operate such a draconian piece of legislation introduced under a law that carries the death penalty, for alleged hate speech.”

On his part, Oyedepo described the bill as “One of the most crazy ideas”, adding that the bill was allegedly part of the present administration’s attempt to gag citizens from speaking against its failures.