Outrage, on Saturday, greeted the decision of the Federal Government to monitor the social media posts of notable Nigerians. Members of the National Assembly, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party, labour and other notable Nigerians condemned the move of the government to monitor social media accounts of important personalities.
The government said it had come up with the controversial policy to monitor and curb hate speech among the elite. Among those who described the move as evil and unconstitutional were the Nigeria Labour Congress; the House of Representatives; Senator Shehu Sani and five senior lawyers. The Peoples Democratic Party also kicked against the government’s decision, saying it was aimed at muzzling the opposition.
The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Council against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), while noting that hate speech needed to be curbed, however, described the government’s move as obnoxious and anti democratic. The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan- Ali, had, on Thursday, said he had directed security agencies to tackle those propagating hate speech especially through the social media.
He said special attention should be given to notable Nigerians while tackling the menace. According to him, the directive was given at a meeting of the National Security Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday.
