Trending: Two-Year Prison Term For “False Allegations” On Social Media Passes 2nd Reading In Senate

An ambitious bill to send to prison for two years in Nigeria anyone who makes an allegation against a public officer or institutions on social media passed a second reading on Wednesday.

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The bill, entitled “Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions” is in effect designed to protect looters in high places, notoriously the Senate, which is loaded with persons of questionable character.  It is pompously described by its sponsors as being aimed at anyone who makes “an allegation or publish a statement or petition in the newspaper, radio, or medium of whatever description against another person, institutions of government, or any public office holder.”

Sources informed Sahara Reporters that the second reading was led on Wednesday by embattled Senate President Bukola Saraki, who has been at the center of numerous corruption scandals published by the local and international media.

Documents had emerged from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Police showing that Mr. Saraki stole more than N1 billion when he was a director at Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria (SGBN), which subsequently collapsed. 

Later, as Governor of Kwara State, Mr. Saraki also stole millions of dollars from Kwara State accounts and various corrupt transactions often involving the purchase of luxury cars and homes, sometimes spending vast sums through an American Express card linked to him. It is as a consequence of this that Mr. Saraki now faces trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal for 13 counts of financial crime, money laundering, and unexplained assets. 

He has been attempting to use all manner of manoeuvres, including the Appeal and Supreme Courts, to abort the trial, sometimes shutting down the Upper House so that its less ethical members can accompany him to the court.

Senator Ibn Bala Na’Allah, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) representing Kebbi South, is the bill’s sponsor.

    Senator Olujimi says the amount of falsehood flying everywhere is staggering and a scapegoat has to be made as deterrent for others.
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