Jonathan Tsado Vasta: We Have no Moral Right to Sponsor Hate Speech Bill
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger
State and a former Commissioner for Information, Mr. Jonathan Tsado Vatsa has
said that the ruling party has no moral right to sponsor the hate speech bill
or any law for that matter that seek to gag the press.
Speaking at the Social Media Summit in Minna, organized by the
Progressive Media Practitioners (PMP), Vatsa said the ruling APC benefitted
immensely “from this thing we call hate speech”
“Before 2015, I can remember, we used all forms of propaganda against
the ruling PDP, we said anything to make sure that the people hated the party.
“Our focus at that time was to ensure that we discredited the then
ruling party and we won. We should not be afraid of the poison we gave PDP that
time.
“Personally I will not be a party to a law that will gag the press. In
some other climes, people would have commenced the process of recalling the
sponsor of that bill,” Vatsa asserted.
He commended former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida for
throwing his weight behind those opposed to the bill and advised those behind
the bill to sponsor bills that will impact positively on ordinary Nigerians.
The convener of the summit, Prince Daniel Atori in his welcome
address, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to impress upon the lawmakers on
the need for them to provide dividends of democracy to the people rather than
embarking on a wild goose chase of making laws that are of no benefit to the
people.