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Joe Effiong, Uyo and Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka
National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Emmanuel Enoidem has described the Hate Speech Bill being proposed by the National Assembly as criminal and an insult to the image of the country.
Speaking to journalists, yesterday in Uyo on the issue, Enoidem said the bill will gag the freedom of speech enjoyed by Nigerians.
The Senate recently reintroduced the bill that seeks to penalise persons found guilty of hate speech, even as it prescribes death penalty for anyone found guilty of spreading falsehood.
The bill passed its first reading in the Senate last week.
The PDP chieftain likened the Bill to Decree 4 enacted by the military government when President Muhammadu Buhari, was military Head of State.
He urged the press to rise up against it, saying if the Bill becomes law, the press will be its first victim.
Enoidem alleged that the bill was a strategy to aid President Buhari return to rule the country for a third term.
“The hate speech bill being considered by the National Assembly is the worst form of anti freedom of speech, freedom of conscience bill that is being proposed by any country whether under military rule or otherwise. It is negative in intention, it is criminal in action.
“This is akin to Decree 4. But if you look at Decree 4 and compare it to the provisions of the proposed bill, you will know that it has more negative provisions than the one proposed by the military.
“Who defines what is hate speech? If the press keeps quite about it, they would become the first victim. It is better we stand up and speak against this evil that is coming. The bill is very insulting to the common conscience of the country, insulting to the image of the country, and is very damaging to all of us. We need to stand up and speak against it,” Enoidem said.
Meanwhile, Senator Iyom Uche Ekwunife, representing Anambra Central, has assured the bill presently would not fly.
Responding to the apprehension by her constituents over the said bill, Senator Ekwunife said it would be rejected when it comes for debate at the second reading.
“That the Bill has passed first reading in the Senate should not be a cause for concern to anyone. In our law making process, first reading is merely a proposal for the Bill to be read a second time and the process is automatic.
“I can assure you that when the Bill is up for the second reading, like all other Bills, the proposed Hate Speech Bill will be subjected to very rigorous debate in the Senate. It is at this point that all your anxieties and wishes will be brought to bear.
“I want to assure you that I and my colleagues at the Senate would never allow any bill which does not fully reflect the true wishes and interests of Nigerians to pass second reading. Remain patient and law abiding, as I assure that this Bill, to the extent of its infringement to the fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens, will be rejected by me totally,” she said.
In his reaction, Pastor Benjamin Olayiwola, Chairman, Oyo State Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), urged the National Assembly to halt the passage of the bill.
“We need to come together; we need to unite so as to tackle our differences. If the bill is implemented now, it can lead to chaos, as there may be a gang up by a party against the other.
“Although everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, you must not hide under that to pull another person or the country down. Opinions must be said constructively; we should be blunt and optimistic in our actions and conducts,” the CAN chairman said.
Also speaking, the Catholic Bishop of Oyo Diocese, Most Rev. Emmanuel Badejo, said Nigeria should not be proposing capital punishment at this period when other countries were abandoning it, saying it had never served as deterrent.
The bishop urged the lawmakers to fight to reduce the harvest of deaths in some parts of Nigeria rather than proposing such a bill.
“That the lawmakers are contemplating death penalty for hate speech in a country where all sorts of hate crimes have occurred for years without much response from government and security agencies raises serious concern.
“Human life is sacred and it is only the Creator who can take it; to, therefore, suggest that the bill should be retrogressive is evidence of how much we seem to retrogress, while other countries are progressing.
“While it is necessary to exercise control over fake news, our constitution should protect citizens and prosecute those who run foul of the law,” the cleric said.
