A Lagos lawyer, Barr. Tope Akinyode, has sued President Muhammadu Buhari, and the National Assembly over the bill to regulate social media, which is presently being considered by the federal legislature.
Mr. Akinyode, also a human rights activist in the suit Number: FHC/L/CS/2037/19 filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos on November 12, 2019, is asking the government to preserve the rights of all Nigerians, even as he sought an injunction against further proceedings on the bill by the National Assembly.
Akinyode, who spoke to The NEXT EDITION on Thursday, maintained that the bill, if passed into law, would be a direct attack on Nigerians’ fundamental right of freedom of speech.
Other people listed as co-defendants included the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami; Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Akinyode said: “On November 12, 2019, in Suit Number: FHC/L/CS/2037/19, I sued Nigeria’s President and the National Assembly, among others, before the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, for a perpetual injunction to halt further proceedings on a controversial bill before the National Assembly titled: ‘Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill, 2019’.
READ ALSO: Leah Sharibu: Mother, group sues FG for N500m, seeks immediate release from Boko Haram
“The bill was introduced to the floor of the Nigerian Senate on November 5, 2019. However, it is targeted towards regulating the use of social media. I believe the bill is repressive and difficult to maintain without a brutal violation of citizens’ right to free speech.
“Through the suit, I seek to impress it on the court that democracy in Nigeria today is already threatened due to ceaseless disregard for rule of law and court orders by the government.”
Akinyode contended that the bill is a further attempt to stifle citizen participation in governance processes and unless the court prevents the bill, there will be more problems for Nigerian democracy, which will offend the provisions of Section 39 (1) of the Constitution.
He maintained that grounds for instituting the suit and a few other court processes he may institute, is that no government should be allowed to stifle citizens’ voices in the process of governance, even as he expressed the hope that the case which, he stressed, will form a bedrock in Nigeria’s judiciary, will receive favourable attention by the court.
