The Nigeria Governors’ Forum on Wednesday rejected the proposed
death penalty for hate speech in the bill at the National
Assembly.
The governors also expressed their readiness to conclude
negotiations with labour unions on the implementation of the
N30,000 minimum wage before the December 31 deadline.
The governors spoke at the end of their seventh meeting in
Abuja, which was presided over by the Vice-Chiarman of the NGF and
Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal.
Answering questions from journalists, Tambuwal urged the
National Assembly to conduct a public hearing on the hate speech
bill to aggregate the views of Nigerians.
He said, “I’m not sure I have heard any governor come out to say
he is in support of the death penalty for hate speech.
“I believe that the National Assembly should hold a public
hearing on that bill, so that due process of lawmaking is
followed.
“This is so that the views of Nigerians, not just the governors,
will be well captured on that bill and they (National Assembly)
should respect the views of Nigerians in whatever may be the
direction of debate and the eventual passage or otherwise of that
bill.”
Tambuwal pledged the commitment of states to the implementation
of the minimum wage and improved welfare of workers.
He said, “Various state governments have been engaging with
their branches of the Nigeria Labour Congress, I’m sure it is a
work in progress.
“Before December, all the states must have finished working out
the details on the issue of the minimum wage across the
federation.
“We are very much committed to the welfare and well-being of our
workforce and therefore, we shall continue to ensure that we do our
best on what needs to be done.”
At the meeting, the governors committed to working with the
Independent Verification Agent to ensure that the APA process did
not experience delay.
The forum, among other resolutions, also expressed commitment to
the initiative to advance value added activities in agriculture,
access to finance and women economic development.
The Senate, had on Tuesday last week, introduced the hate speech
bill, which among others, prescribed death by hanging as the
maximum punishment for certain categories of offenders.
The bill, which is being sponsored by a former Senate
spokesperson, who is now the Deputy Senate Whip, Sabi Abdullahi,
passed first reading on the floor of the Red Chamber on November
13. It is titled, ‘National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate
Speech (Estb.etc) Bill, 2019’.
Abdullahi had sponsored a similar bill in the 8th Senate, but it
could not survive the second reading due to overwhelming opposition
and criticisms from civil society groups and the media.
Besides the death penalty, offenders are liable to a 10-year
jail term or risk N10m fine, especially, those who stir ethnic
hatred by their speeches.
The Nigerian Bar Association, civil rights groups and former
Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had kicked against the bill.
The NBA National Publicity Secretary, Kunle Edun, had cautioned
the Senate to “tread carefully” with the bill.
He had said, “We, therefore, strongly advise that the Senate
should tread carefully on this bill.
“Section 39(3) of the Constitution makes it mandatory that no
law can abrogate the rights of Nigerians to exercise their right to
freedom of speech, except if such a law can be reasonably justified
in a democratic society. ‘Can a hate bill be reasonably justified
in a democratic society?”
But the Senate disowned the bill on Monday, saying it was an
idea of the sponsor, Abdullahi. The Niger State senator said he had
received threat messages over the bill.
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