Following reports of the move by the Nigerian senate to pass a bill censoring social media, President Muhammadu Buhari in reaction to the public outcry, has assured Nigerians that he would not assent to any legislation that is inconsistent with the nation’s constitution.
A statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu on Monday, shows the President’s reinstating 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 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.”
“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.
“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
