President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday assured Nigerians that he would not assent to any legislation that is inconsistent with the nation’s constitution.

According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the President said this in his reaction to the public outcry currently trailing the Social Media Bill
being debated in the Senate.

Shehu quoted the President as restating his
administration’s commitment to the protection of
free speech in keeping with democratic tradition.

He said since Buhari had sworn to defend the
constitution of Nigeria, he would not lend his hand to anything that was inconsistent with the constitution.

He said the President was fully aware of the public reservations about the proposed legislation, but
assured Nigerians that ‘’there is no cause for alarm,
because the Senate is a democratic Senate. The
President won’t assent to any legislation that may be
inconsistent with the constitution of Nigeria.”

The presidential spokesman however added that
Buhari was not against lawful regulation that was
done in consonance with the law.

“But he (the President) is not averse to lawful
regulation, so long as that is done within the ambit of the constitution which he swore to uphold,” he added.

Shehu further quoted Buhari as saying that free
speech was central to democratic societies anywhere in the world and that without free speech, elected representatives would not be able to gauge public feelings and moods about governance issues.

“As a key component of democratic principles, the
President acknowledged that people in democratic
societies are so emotionally attached to free speech
that they would defend it with all their might,” he
added.