Afe Babalola - Hate Speech Bill, Beginning Of Dictatorship

The much-touted hate speech Bill being proposed by the Senate, Wednesday received another vituperation, as a legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola(SAN), described it as a slide to dictatorship.

Babalola, founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) , said it was needless and unwarranted for anyone to contemplate another law to deal with false publications, when there were laws already promulgated to take care of such situation.

The bill, sponsored by the Deputy Chief Whip, Aliyu Abdullahi, has passed the first reading at the Senate, prescribing death penalty for anyone found guilty of spreading a falsehood that led to the death of another person.

Babalola spoke at ABUAD in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday, when the leadership of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ekiti chapter, led by its Chairman, Com Rotimi Ojomoyela presented award of excellence to the Legal Icon to appreciate his contributions to humanity and national development.

The legal icon noted that the provisions of the proposed bill in its entirety clearly contravene section 39 of the 1999 constitutions, which guarantee freedom of speech.