BREAKING NEWS, Politics
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PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, December 7, has distanced himself from the Social Media Bill being debated in the Senate and promised Nigerians that he would not assent to any legislation that was inconsistent with the nation’s constitution.
According to a statement by Garba Shehu, his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Buhari gave the assurance while reacting to the public hostility towards the controversial Social Media Bill in the Senate.
Shehu quoted the president as saying that having sworn to defend to defend the constitution of the country he would not lend his hand to anything that was inconsistent with the document.
He said Buhari was fully aware of the public reservations about the proposed legislation, but assured Nigerians that ‘’there is no cause for alarm, because the Senate is a democratic Senate.”
Nevertheless, he said Buhari was not against lawful regulation that was done in consonance with the law and the constitution which he swore to uphold.
Shehu further quoted Buhari as saying that free speech was central to democratic societies anywhere in the world and that without free speech, elected representatives would not be able to gauge public feelings and moods about governance issues.
“As a key component of democratic principles, the president acknowledged that people in democratic societies are so emotionally attached to free speech that they would defend it with all their might,” he added.
— Dec 8, 2015 @ 15:20 GMT
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