Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, the sponsor of the National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech and Senate Deputy Chief Whip, has said that there would be no death penalty for violators.
The 2019 hate speech bill prescribes the death penalty for anyone found guilty of spreading a falsehood that leads to the death of another person.
Recall that when the hate speech bill was sponsored in 2019 by Abdullahi, it had suggested that any person who commits this offense shall be liable to life imprisonment and where the act causes any loss of life, the person shall be punished with death by hanging.
Senator Abdulahi, however, told journalists that a robust engagement was going on in respect of the bill and a decision has been made to remove the contentious death penalty provision.
He maintained that despite the outcry over the bill, he would continue to press on with its passage as there was no need to “throw away the baby with the bathwater.”
His words: “I think what I want to say first and foremost is that because the baby is dirty or the water is dirty should not lead to a situation where we take the baby and the bad water and throw away.
” I believe the hate speech bill which I am sponsoring, the most contentious issue that drew people’s concern was the death penalty and I recall vividly at that particular instance
”I issued a statement that as a sponsor of the bill at the appropriate time, I will ensure that the death penalty is put away such that no matter what the punitive measure is, we can all agree on what it should be.
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“But whether we desire a hate speech bill, my answer is capital yes. And my reasons are not far fetched.
”That particular bill is designed to address at least something that is fundamental and has been going on for the past 40,50 years in this country.
“And it is assuming a new dimension that if we don’t control, we don’t want to have something like it happened in Rwanda for example.
”I think the essence of the bill is to prevent discrimination such that it leads to hostility and even death in some instances as it has happened.”
