Hate Speech Bill: FG Opposes Senate

The Federal Government has opposed the Senate over the proposed Hate Speech Bill.

The opposition of the Federal Government to the Bill was made known by the Minister of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Saraki, while speaking with newsmen after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday.

Saraki, who took over response to the question from the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the existing Cybercrime Act (2015) is enough to handle purveyors of hate speech.

Saraki said Nigerians were jumping the gun by drawing conclusions on a Bill that was yet to become a law.

She said: “It is a bill, it’s not yet a law.

“So the sponsor of the bill might put the death penalty there.

“I think we are jumping the gun a bit.

“He is proposing the 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.

“I am not privileged to know the sponsor of the particular bill, but there is a law.

“I stand to be corrected.

“I think it was passed 2014/2015.

“I am not particularly sure.

“But that law that takes care of (hate speech) because cybercrime is now a major issue.

“Internationally, everybody is concerned about it being the new frontier to fight crime.

“So, hate speech is within that cybercrime aspect.”