Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said that he was not the sponsor of the Hate Speech Bill before National Assembly.
He dismissed the report attributed to Senator Francis Fadahunsi representing Osun East that he was behind the Bill, saying it was a “bigger example” of fake news.
The Senator had alleged, in an interview, that the Minister was the sponsor of the Bill but only used Senator Sabi Abdullahi as a front.
“Senator Sabi Abdullahi only front for the bill, it actually originated from the Executive, specifically, Lai Muhammed and the sole motive is just to box the media into a corner, where it would no longer have the vibrancy to question those in public offices,” the Senator was reported as saying.
But in a chat with newsmen in Lagos, Lai Mohammed dismissed the allegation, saying: “This is a bigger example of fake news. I can say categorically that I am not the sponsor of Hate Speech Bill in the National Assembly.”
He however, stressed that he is committed to sanitizing the social media, saying the greatest challenge to the country today was fake news.
