Senate President, Bukola Saraki, declared in Lagos today that section 4 of the Anti-frivolous petition Bill now popularly known as ‘Anti-Social Media law’ would not see the light of day at the Senate.
Saraki stated this while delivering the keynote address at the StateCraft Masterclass series at Social Media Week, held in Lagos.
Saraki, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on New Media, Mr. Bankole Omishore, emphasised the growing influence of social media users in Nigeria’s political environment.
He then encouraged the audience to continue to contribute to the development of Nigeria through their dialogue and debate on social media.
The senate president said, “Without the involvement of social media, there is no way that we would have moved from a non-performing government because now everything is out in the open unlike years ago.”
Saraki commended the online community, which he described as the real ‘Chairmen of INEC,’ for sourcing election results from polling stations during the general elections, and ensured that the manipulation of vote counts.
He said, “Though we had the numbers. It is really thanks to social media that votes counted because you shared the results as they happened.”
The Frivolous Petitions Bill, sponsored by the Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, passed second reading on the floor of both chambers of the National Assembly in December last year while the Senate had fixed March this year for the public hearing.
The senate president called for continued cooperation and conversation between the government and the public via social media, and noted that the recent National Assembly Interactive session with Civil Society Organisations was a huge success.
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