President
Muhammadu Buhari on Monday assured Nigerians that he would not assent to
any legislation that is inconsistent with the nation’s constitution.
According
to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity,
Mallam Garba Shehu, the President said this in his reaction to the
public outcry currently trailing the Social Media Bill being debated in
the Senate.
Shehu
quoted the President as restating his administration’s commitment to the
protection of free speech in keeping with democratic tradition.
He said
since Buhari had sworn to defend the constitution of Nigeria, he would
not lend his hand to anything that was inconsistent with the
constitution.
He said
the President 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. The President won’t
assent to any legislation that may be inconsistent with the constitution
of Nigeria.”
The presidential spokesman however added that Buhari was not against lawful regulation that was done in consonance with the law.
“But he
(the President) is not averse to lawful regulation, so long as that is
done within the ambit of the constitution which he swore to uphold,” he
added.
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.
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