As reactions still trail the proposed anti-media bill of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator Bala Ibn, a human rights activist and executive chairman, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice, CHRSJ, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman has stated that the ruling APC is returning the country to the dark days of military era.
Sulaiman stated APC’s plan is to ensure that freedom of expression and speech will be denied the citizens of the nation during the four years of Muhammadu Buhari’s government, urging Nigerians not to keep quiet over the evil of the proposed bill by the APC Senators, alleging that President Muhammadu Buhari had hand in the proposed anti-media bill in order to bring the Decree 4 that was used to gag the press during his days as military Head of State in 1984 and 1985 when media practitioners were clampdown into detention without trial.
Rejecting the President’s position that he has no hand in the anti-media bill, Comrade Sulaiman called on the President to tell his party senators behind the bill to throw it into the dustbin and not just doing that “he, Mr. President should not assent to any bill that was inconsistence with the provision of the amended 1999 Constitution.”
He called on APC senators behind the bill to drop the idea, saying that the bill was an invitation to chaos and anarchy.
CHRSJ boss reiterated that the Section 22 and 39(1) of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has guaranteed the freedom of speech and expression to the citizens as an antidote to the deepening of the country democratic experiment, noting that any law contrary to the general provision of part 1(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, was null and void.
“The proposed anti-media bill is curious, undemocratic, evil, ungodly, anathema, abomination, anti-masses and aberration and should not be allowed to stand,” Comrade Sulaiman stated.