Sani, who represented the Kaduna Central at the Senate in the 8th National Assembly, stated this during a summit organised by the House of Justice on Saturday in Kaduna.
He argued that the two bills were inimical, dangerous and subversive to the nation’s democracy.
According to him, the two bills before the Senate is a sign that tyranny is building up in the country.
Sani, who noted that with what was happening in the country, it appeared blocks of tyranny were building up in Nigeria, added that there was a need to halt it.
He added that people in government were becoming intolerant of criticism, noting that that was dangerous for the country.
Sani, however, cautioned the current government against any attempt to deny Nigerians their right to freedom of expression.
Sani said, “Nowadays, people in government are becoming intolerant of criticism and there is an attempt to silence people from questioning power. And that is dangerous.
“My call to the National Assembly is to throw away the social media bill and the hate speech bill. The two bills are inimical and dangerous to democracy.
“The bills are threatening and will end up consuming our democracy if people have no right to express their opinion.”
Also, Olanipekun said the hate speech bill was counter-productive and a demonstration of lack of sensitivity to the plight and need of Nigerians.
Olanipekun, who said the bill was in conflict with the provisions of the constitution relating to fundamental human rights, said no amendment, review or palliative could heal it, thus necessitating the need for it to be withdrawn in public interest.
The legal luminary spoke at Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State, shortly after the 23rd edition of the yearly Chief Wole Olanipekun Scholarship Scheme where he awarded scholarships to brilliant but indigent secondary school pupils in the community and university students across the state.
He said, “We have a lot of problems in Nigeria that we need bills, laws to settle. We need laws that will cushion the effects of so many things — insecurity, hardship, poverty, education, bad roads and all of that.
“As a Nigerian and an elder statesman, let me advise that the National Assembly be more productive. Let us stop chasing vanity, things that are not productive and things that are counter-productive. To me as a lawyer and as an elder, I want to say that this bill will be counter-productive. The bill will bring about bad blood and disunity even within the family.
“Let them withdraw the bill. We have so many laws, in the South, we have the Criminal Law, in the North, we have the Criminal Code. We have laws that take care of all offences under the sun. That bill, whether they amend it or not, will conflict with the provisions of the constitution relating to fundamental human rights.
“They should withdraw it outright. No amendment, no palliatives, no review, no further consideration, they should withdraw it. We will clap for them if they withdraw the bill for the fact that they have demonstrated that they are human.”
Meanwhile, a pastor and founder of the Cherubim and Seraphim Success Gate Church, Ade Ademilokun-Turton, has alleged that the hate speech bill was being sponsored to silence Nigerians.
He said if the bill was eventually passed into law, government’s officials would abuse it and use it to hound their critics.
Ademilokun-Turton stated this while speaking with journalists on the founder’s day celebration of the church, in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Sunday.
He said, “A hungry man is an angry man. How can you say people should not talk when there is injustice in the land? In Nigeria, you see governors owing workers over one year salaries and you expect them not to talk? You are feeding your own dog and human beings cannot feed! This is a means to silence the people when government failed and don’t know what to do next.”
Mischievous people misleading Nigerians, says sponsor
But the sponsor of the controversial bill, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, has said that opponents of the Hate Speech Bill are ignorant of the dangers that loom if the bill is not passed into law.
Abdullahi, who is the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, in a statement on Sunday, also said the opponents were only pretending to protect ‘freedom of speech’ by misinforming Nigerians on the intent of the legislation before the National Assembly.
The lawmaker, therefore, warned Nigerians to beware of “false information being spilled out by some persons and groups parading themselves as serving the interest of the nation.”
He cited a report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom on ‘Overcoming Dangerous Speech and Endemic Religious Divides in Central Nigeria,’ to drive home his point.
“In some cases, false news about attacks have incited the people to undertake revenge attacks in various parts of the country,” the lawmaker added.
