The Senate has said it is not possible for it to initiate a bill that prescribes the death penalty for looters.

The red chamber, however, pledged to support any executive or private member bill that would criminalise acts of corruption.

The spokesperson for the Senate, Godiya Akwashiki, stated this in an interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday.

He spoke against a backdrop of some Nigerians and groups calling for a bill that prescribes the death penalty for treasury looters instead of the lawmakers devoting time to social media and hate speech bills.

"It is not possible for the Senate President to direct any senator to go and produce a particular type of bill. All of us are elected to represent our constituency from various parts of the country,” he said.

The Senate spokesperson also said different punishments were already prescribed against corruption in the acts that established the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, as well as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

"We have the ICPC Act and the EFCC Act and there are punishments there for offenders. I want to believe we are going gradually. However, any bill that would criminalise looting is a good proposal that the Senate could consider,” he said.


Akwashiki, however, said the executive arm of government, groups or individuals should initiate bills that prescribe the death penalty for treasury looters and see if the upper chamber would not push them through.

He also described as untrue insinuations that senators, particularly former governors and ministers in the red chamber, would reject such legislation in order to protect themselves.

He said, “We started a serious fight against corruption a few years ago when President Muhammadu Buhari got into office.


“The issue of a bill against corruption and looters in the Senate is a constitutional right of every senator, the executive arm of government, groups or private individuals.

“Anybody in the country is free to propose a bill through any senator. If you have such a proposal, get in touch with your senator, sit down with him and convince him why you want that type of law to be enacted.”

Stressing that the red chamber would support any bill that criminalises corruption, Akwashiki said, “This country belongs to all of us. Every person in this country has the right to present their opinion in terms of enacting an Act for the benefit of the people.

“When the Senate discovers there are many people requesting a particular bill, one day, one senator will just wake up and initiate a proposal and present it before his colleagues.”

He also said not all former governors or former ministers in the red chamber were corrupt.

He said, “We have 109 senators. How many are former governors or ministers?

“Are you saying we could get 60 senators who are either former governors or ministers?

“Senate is a place where everybody is free to express their opinions, according to the wishes of the people who elected them.

“The Senate chamber is higher than any former governor or minister.”

Meanwhile, the Senate spokesperson said the red chamber had yet to discuss the issue of the death penalty in the hate speech bill because the proposal still remained the personal property of the sponsor until it passed second reading.

He said, “The issue of expunging the death penalty from the hate speech bill is not the decision of the Senate yet. There is a process of enacting an Act. The bill will pass first, second and third readings.

“The hate speech bill has just been mentioned for the first time. It has not come up for a second reading. It is when it is introduced for the second time that the senators will for the first time voice out for or against the bill.

“For now, the sponsor has said he will expunge the clause that prescribes the death penalty for hate speech; that is his own personal opinion.

“I have said it times without number that the hate speech bill is a private member bill. When we get to its second reading, that is when Nigerians will know the position of the Senate on the bill. If the bill does not pass second reading, that will be its end.

“The senators may even decide to remove other clauses apart from the death penalty provision.”


https://punchng.com/why-we-cant-initiate-death-penalty-bill-for-looters-senate/

Clowns

A shit hole country we live, a country that almost 60yrs after civil war, some parts are still in war with the other, using political powers to checkmate the activities of the minorities while the other side flourish in corruption and hatred...I'd always be the last person to pray for peace or progress of this prison called Nigeria...NDI NZUZU

"..Akwashiki, however, said the executive arm of government, groups or individuals should initiate bills that prescribe the death penalty for treasury looters and see if the upper chamber would not push them through..."

So say the most useless, senseless,irresponsible senate Nigeria has ever had.This is simply because most of you're criminals that have made the NASS your safe haven.

Just imagine these cursed idiots Nigerians have as leaders? He is even asking stupidly if the ICPC/EFCC acts stipulate death penalty? And he thinks he is making sense while it's impossible to make death penalty for corruption?

So why is the senate asking the populace to initiate the death bill for corruption but quick to prescribed the death penalty for hate speech/ cyber stalking.God punish all of una.Nauseating Idiots!

You can imagine and feel the fear in the voice about death penalty for looters

But death penalty for social media has passed it second bill without blinking ohhh
What a country

corruption n hate speech which is more dangerous if u can prescribe death penalty for hate speech u also do same for corruption

So the problem is who will initiate such bill?

Oga the same person that initiated Death penalty for hate speech should equally initiate Death penalty for Treasury Looters.

Shameless Looters!!

Bishop Kukah has earned respect over the years for his unbiased stand on burning national issues. This is yet another classic!

Social Media Bill:
SHORT WALK TO TOTALITARIANISM?

Matthew Hassan KUKAH*

I have consistently tried to create levels of differentiation between democracy and dictatorship, especially dictatorships of the military variant as we have had in Nigeria. I have argued that Nigeria is still very far away from the goal posts of what could be called a democratic society. In my view, the environment does not as yet look anything democratic because the actors are largely strangers to the ethos of and what is more, too many of them are tied to the old order, not to talk of the fact that the presence of General-presidents suggest that we are still in the thrall of militarism.

Democracy thrives on debate, consensus building, negotiation, persuasion, argumentation, rule of law, process, and inclusion. The military thrives in a coup culture, secrecy, betrayal, violence, command structure, exclusion and lack of transparency. That explains why I have always warned against describing the current charade of violent elections as democracy.

I have illustrated on several occasions that many among us arrived at Democracy’s altar by parachutes, funded by moneybags, cliques and cults. We have seen no difference from those who claim to be democrats in terms of the strong-arm tactics that we associated with a militarized environment. Our ‘democrats’ have had no problems with what Noam Chomsky would refer to as resorting to manufactured consent when it comes to elections. They have rented the same crowds, contrived the same outcomes as the old order, seducing the people by bribery rather than persuasion and debate.


Like the false feathers of Icarus, everyday, the drama of the fraud called democracy is re-enacted as the masks occassionally fall off and we see the real face of fascism that hides behind it all. When they sense that we want to test their mandate through closely monitored elections, they threaten that we will receive either coffins or body bags in return. Every day, the evidence is before us suggesting clearly that, in the mind of those whom we have entrusted our future to, democracy is merely a heuristic device to perpetuate their grip on power, a bad portfolio investment that fears scrutiny. All the State Assemblies, at best glorified cemeteries of silence, inhabited by puppets, cowed to silence and submission as they munch their crumbs.

The recent outrage by the Minister of Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed over public reaction to the Social Media Bill, is illustrative of the point I am making, namely, that not all who call themselves democrats appreciate the enormous burden that goes with the claim today. The Minister has used some rather harsh and divisive words that suggest some contempt for the voices and views of those whose labours and sacrifices brought him and his government to where they are today. His language is disrespectful, appalling and illustrative of the highhandedness that suggests that we are not in a democracy. The language is as intolerant as it is alienating. The Minister says that no amount of threat, blackmail etc will dissuade the government from going ahead with the social media because it is borne out of patriotism. Really?

There are many questions begging for answers here. Is this the language of democracy? Is this the language of people who understand or have really imbibed and internalized the spirit and fine principles of democracy? If we must do your will or face the wrath of government, then, this suggests two things: First, we must obey you and government because we are subservient to you and government. We must be answerable to you not the other way round. We must, because if we don’t, we can be penalized by imprisonment for daring to question its wisdom or seek to have an input in a law that concerns us. When did we surrender our rights and voices to government if we are not heading to totalitarian rule? It looks like and smells like it. Is Mr. Mohammed a lawyer who is a politician or a politician who is a lawyer? In an ideal situation, the former should reinforce the latter.

At this point, I would rather side with President Muhammadu Buhari who has been far more honest about his deficient democratic credentials. I have heard the president on at least three occasions complain that democracy is definitely not his strong jacket. To him, democracy is an irritant, a nuisance that he is compelled to live with. To paraphrase the President: ‘When I was a military man, I arrested all the thieves and put them in protective custody. I asked them to go and prove their innocence. Now, I have been told that even though I can see the thieves, I cannot arrest them. I must take them to court and prove that they are guilty.’

I admire the fact that the president has illustrated that his conversion to democracy was not like Paul on the road to Damascus. His tentative conversion to democracy did not come with a confession of his sins (of staging a coup), a promise not to do that again and then a plea for absolution and the acceptance of the required penance! In honesty, the president says he prefers to work with ‘those he knows not those who know’, so we can forgive him. But not others.

Mr. Mohammed has climbed a moral high horse, claiming that he is motivated by higher and noble values of protecting the rest of us from a hovering scarecrow of evil, the social media. This is a low level fence erected to hide the construction of a wall of tyranny, fascism and totalitarianism. All tyrants and fascists started with the most noble of intentions, composing panegyric lullabies in praise of patriotism. But, as the old saying goes, patriotism is often the last refuge of scoundrels. Sooner than later, they will start the witch-hunt. This is why, the radical American intellectual and activist, Lillian Hellman who lived under the witch hunting era of McCarthyism titled her memoirs, ‘Scoundrel Time!’

To be sure, there is no one, including myself, who is not aware of the dangers posed by the social media. We have all been victims. However, should the government wish to address this matter legally and openly, why should they be afraid of a public debate? It is desirable that we address the social media by way of education, open debate and transfer of knowledge. When did the social media become sinister in the eyes of the government? Is it after the same government used it that they now realise that it was good for them then, but bad for the rest of us now?

Law making is a serious business and it demands high moral standards of honesty on the lawmaker. No citizen should be compelled to obey bad laws. Patriotism is not a commodity of exchange. I have lived long in this country, been engaged long enough to know that the degree of patriotism of office holders is often in direct proportion to the opportunities that they have. Today’s Buhariphiles will develop Buhariphobia when they lose their position. Against the backdrop of the rumours and whispers about term limits, do we know where this is going?

Finally, we must all concede that technology is here to stay. All we can do is to try to make it work for us. Like their explorer grandfathers before them, both Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Jack Dorsey (Twitter) have shone their light. They know what they have seen in Nigeria and Mr. Dorsey says he plans a longer stay in future. They have seen opportunity in an incredibly energetic and brilliant youth and they are prepared to pour investment into them. What do those who govern us see? Afraid of their shadows, they see in their own Youth, trouble and threats to the quicksand into which they have buried their selfish ambitions. They want to kill these dreams by thinking of a Bill to protect us from Hate speech and so on.

There is absolutely no doubt that we face a difficult future with what to do with the social media. However, the future of employment lies there and all need to do is to extend the frontiers of the imagination of our Youth to enable them explore a future that can make us safer and prosperous. We know that fire burns and people drown in water. Should we therefore restrict the usage of water and fire or should we sit the children down and explain the dangers inherent in the goodness of water and fire? Our real challenge is the shame that now afflicts us due to years and years of the neglect. A people so badly governed will use anything to express their frustration and sadly, this is what makes us all victims of hate speech. The greatest expression of Hate is those who use the power in their hands to divide us by favouring or excluding others based religion, gender, political affiliation or social class. They are the real reason why our people have remained diminished.

It is a measure of who we are and the premium we place on life that anyone would dream of suggesting a death sentence for the propagation of Hate speech. Surely, unscrupulous and immoral theft of humungous resources belonging to all of us by our politicians is more damaging to our society than any Hate speech. It is like comparing saliva and a dam. We should have nothing to fear. A clear conscience fears no accusation. Technology, developed by humans still has inbuilt safety valves that will enable it to correct itself. Threats, arm-twisting or raw bravado will not do. Edward Snowden has shown that the builders of terror can always pull back. It is inefficiency and political corruption that creates the conditions for the social Media to thrive not lack of patriotism.

The ultimate goal of this Bill is not to punish those who offend, but those who offend government or those in government. Again, here, we have to fall back on the president’s sense of honesty. When he promulgated Decree 2, the focus was to punish journalists who made public officers uncomfortable. Again, on this note, the President has not changed his mind set at all. So, again when Tunde Thompson rushed to forgiveness, it was not because the President had shown any contrition. Therefore, when the sponsors of this Bill claim that it is for our own good, they are borrowing our mouths to eat onions. If the government gets away with it, we have no idea what else will be on the table. Only a robust debate can cure the claims of cynicism.

The Government has all the laws it needs to fight any form of crime and individuals can fall back on it. This Bill is a redundant, stale, superfluous and a fraud. We will fight it Bill with all our energy. It is rotten yoghurt being marketed beyond its expiration date. We should reject it as a totalitarian attempt to circumscribe our hard earned freedom.


* Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese

Dew

Ask dem...

But hate speech Bill was fast to gained second reading in the Senate. Real clowns in power.

How convenient to say.

I don't expect thieves to ask for thieves when caught, to be sent to death by firing squad.


That is the one thing we need as punitive measure to curb the level of corruption that has embraced our country.

Corruption and murder deserve death sentence in this country as it stands.

Bullshit.

Enlightened self interest.

You think we have forgotten your boy Farouk lawan?
That one was on camera. Hanging straight - after he implicates all of you pontificating noisemakers

Corrupt officers don't deserve death penalty,but those found culpable of "hate" speech do, right? For all I know and all its worth, a country where its leaders deliver as expected won't have to worry about its citizens bashing them on social media. Its already bad that a great number of Nigerians cannot afford decent meals, they shouldn't have to be deprived of the right to express their pain too.

This people lolz they are all clowns

But you can initiate death penalty for fake news?


You all are mad

Ok oooo

Criminals in the Hollow chambers are protecting their interests.

Lol, zombies oya o

Afamed go tell your zombie master that corrupt politicians are sentenced to death in China

Nigeria matter don tire me, abeg mek I go do my morning drill.

They should scrap all the punishment that is on ground for looters and replace with death penalty that is all we need

They are the looters of course this is expected

China did it, and it definitely helped.

They are d ones on the table na...... They can't start shaking it
Assholeș

We should start a hashtag to trend on Twitter

#Deathpenaltyforlooters or something cool

Just saying

The heart of this men is desperately wicked. They have long sold their souls to the devil...

If not?Nigeria and Nigerians should not be living like peasants like this.

Every day problems all aangles problems.s.

Shameless dogs we have as leaders. See them flaunt it all around with their kids and families as if its their birth right.

nero2face:
A shit hole country we live, a country that almost 60yrs after civil war, some parts are still in war with the other, using political powers to checkmate the activities of the minorities while the other side flourish in corruption and hatred...I'd always be the last person to pray for peace or progress of this prison called Nigeria...NDI NZUZU

..

Why can’t we tell the senate that in other to sign the social media/hate speech bill, they should also sign the death sentence for corruption

livebyday:
We should start a hashtag to trend on Twitter

#Deathpenaltyforlooters or something cool

Just saying

who will pass such...same looter