The bill was proposed late last year and seeks to do the following: (1) make it difficult for citizens to freely express themselves; (2) make it impossible to provide anonymous information because petitions must be accompanied by affidavits; and (3) finally, monitor conversations on Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook etc.
The bill has gone through two readings on the floor of the Senate and a public hearing was on March 7th.
At the public hearing, only a handful of citizens and organisations attended which did not reflect the public uproar against the bill. All were against the bill except the representative of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and a written report from the Inspector General of Police.
What happens next is that the committee will review the submissions and then make a recommendation on the floor of the Senate. At that point, the Senators will vote ‘yay; or ‘nay’ in favour of the bill.
Social media is an integral part of EiE’s work so we are taking this case very seriously. We have also partnered with Paradigm Initiative Nigeria and Media Rights Agenda to sue the Senate because the bill contradicts parts of the Constitution.
We are asking citizens to engage as active citizens and simply make a 30 second call to vote against the bill. If you have voted, please get 1 more person to vote.
It must be clear to our elected representatives at the Senate, that the Nigerians who they represent, do NOT want this bill!
Call 01-4408464 AND Press 1 to vote. The call costs less than ₦5 and takes less than 30 seconds. You can vote only once and you can spread the word to your network of friends on BBM, Whatsapp, Facebook e.t.c.