The Federal Government, on Wednesday, appeared to distance itself from the bill under consideration in the Senate, which seeks the death penalty for hate speech, as it believes that laws already exist on the subject.
Briefing State House correspondents after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had been asked to give the government’s perspective on the bill sponsored by former Senate spokesman, Abdullahi Sabi.
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However, Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemi Saraki, who joined the briefing alongside the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, chose to answer the question, saying that the Senate bill was a mere proposal.
She said that the fact that the bill is prescribing death penalty does not mean it will necessarily pass like that.
In any case, she said, the nation already has a cybercrime act which takes care of hate speech.
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