Desmond Elliot, a Nollywood actor who is representing
Surulere constituency in the Lagos state house of assembly, has denied rumours
that he is pushing for a bill to regulate social media.
Last Tuesday, the protest against police brutality, which
started as an opposition against the now-disbanded special anti-robbery squad
(SARS) of the police, turned bloody after men in army uniform opened fire on
citizens at Lekki toll gate.
On Monday, Harvey Olufumilayo, a Twitter influencer, claimed
that Elliot was pushing for a bill intended to silence talks about the attack
on social media and legitimize the arrest of those who tweeted about the
matter.
“The Lagos State House of Assembly is developing a bill to
regulate and control speech on social media. Desmond Elliot is said to be one
of those pushing this,” the doctor wrote in a now-deleted post.
“So the plan is to deny the Lekki Massacre and start
arresting anyone who tweets about it? What is wrong with us?”
In a swift reaction, the lawmaker
insisted that such a bill was beyond the jurisdiction of any statehouse in
Nigeria.
The movie star also hedged that
he only charged influencers and motivational speakers online to cut down on the
hate narrative.
“Good evening. My name is Desmond
Elliot. I just came out of a plenary sitting at the House of Assembly and
before we finished, Dr Olufumilayo tweeted saying. ‘The Lagos State House of
Assembly is developing a bill to regulate and control speech on social media
and Desmond Elliot is said to be one of those pushing this. So the plan is to
deny the Lekki massacre,” he said.
“Please, I beg of you, I beg us
and everyone. This is not true, it is totally unfounded. Dr Olufunmilayo, why
don’t you even verify? Aren’t we going through a lot already? It is not true,
period.
“No State House of Assembly has
the jurisdiction to pass any bill like this, it is not possible. It simply lies
on the exclusive list on the federal level. You can’t. Every member has a right
to say something but you can’t.
“The only thing I said towards
social media was that the celebrities, social influencers and motivational
speakers should know we have followers so we should please cut down on the hate
narrative. Everyone is going through so much right now.
“I never said that. No bill to
that effect. No house of Assembly can develop such a bill.”
Honourable Desmond Elliott reacts to tweets that he was behind a Bill to regulate social media in the Lagos State House of Assembly. pic.twitter.com/6TjBcDCQry
— Olorisupergal (@OloriSupergal) October 26, 2020
Elliot, who contested and won the Surulere, Lagos constituency in 2015, had earlier come under heated criticism after he defended and described his own political career as being a product of godfatherism.
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