News
Withdraw Bill To Regulate Bloggers, SERAP Tells Akpabio, Abbas
Published
4 months agoon
By
Editor
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has asked the leadership of the National Assembly to reverse what it terms as “repressive bill” to regulate the activities of bloggers in Nigeria.
In a letter dated April 12 2025, and signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation asked the legislative body to withdraw the bill or face legal action.
The organisation urged Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to immediately withdraw the bill to amend the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, which seeks to regulate the activities of bloggers within the ‘territorial boundaries of Nigeria.’
SERAP urged Akpabio and Abbas to ensure that any amendment to the Nigeria Data Protection Act promotes and protects the rights of bloggers and other journalists and does not undermine the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.
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It urged the assembly leadership to end the imposition of unnecessary restrictions on the rights of Nigerians online and on Internet-based content.
The contentious bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, to Mandate the Establishment of Physical Offices within the Territorial Boundaries of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Social Media Platforms and for Related Matters”.
The bill, among others, seeks to regulate bloggers by requiring all bloggers to register at local offices and join recognised national associations for bloggers.
The bill has passed its first and second reading in the Senate.
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The letter reads, “This bill is a blatant attempt to bring back and fast-track the obnoxious and widely rejected social media bill by the back door.
“If passed, the bill would also be used to ban major social media platforms—including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, and independent bloggers if they ‘continuously fail to establish/register and maintain physical offices in Nigeria for a period of 30 days.’
“Lawmakers should not become arbiters of truth in the public and political domain. Regulating the activities of bloggers and forcing them to associate would have a significant chilling effect on freedom of expression and lead to censorship or restraint.
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“The bill may also be used to block access of Nigerians to social media platforms. Blocking access to social media platforms is a flagrant violation of fundamental rights.
“In addition to infringing on Nigerians’ right to access to information and digital technology, the proposed bill would also severely hamper business operations in the country, as many are reliant on foreign tools, services and technologies for their operations, as well as other sectors that rely on online information.
“The bill would force international tech companies out of the Nigerian information landscape by requiring them to establish/register and maintain physical offices in the country. It would violate the requirement that the right to freedom of expression applies ‘regardless of frontiers.’”
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News
Bumper Harvest: Foundation Distributes 6,000 Fertilizers To Farmers In Bauchi
Published
16 hours agoon
August 14, 2025By
Editor
A group, Wunti Al-Khair Foundation has donated 6,000 50kg bags of fertilizer to farmers in Bauchi state in order to have a bumper harvest.
Speaking during the flag off ceremony of the distribution of the fertilizers on Thursday, Mr Abubakar Mohammed, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Wunti Al-Khair Foundation, said the distribution was only for the indigent farmers in the state.
He said the fertilizers would be distributed to farmers in underserved communities across the three Senatorial Districts of the state.
“We are gathered here to flag off the free distribution of fertilizers to farmers, especially the indigent farmers that don’t have the means to buy fertilizer for their farms.
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“That is the reason why the founder of this foundation bought the fertilizers and distributed them to the low income farmers in the state.
“We have gone round the nooks and crannies of the state to identify the underserved communities and those that deserve this particular gesture.
“We planned to distribute about 6,000 bags of fertilizer and due to the populous nature of the Bauchi LGA, they have the largest share but some other local governments too have hundreds of beneficiaries which we divided into Senatorial zones,” he said.
According to him, today was the flagging off of the Bauchi South Senatorial District, adding that the extension of the gesture would commence in Bauchi North and Bauchi Central Senatorial Districts tomorrow.
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Mohammed explained that the only criteria used in selecting the beneficiaries were underserved communities and low income farmers, adding that “we know that a large number of the farmers in Bauchi state are low income farmers.
“Those are the people that we identified, verified and they are our beneficiaries and we have warned the general public about the activities of some unscrupulous elements that go round to impersonate our foundation.
“Wunti Al-Khair Foundation is not charging a kobo for every part of its activities, be it education, healthcare, economic empowerment and community development”.
Responding, one of the beneficiaries, Emmanuel Samson, described the support as a timely intervention that would greatly enhance his farming activities and appreciated the foundation for the intervention.
Another beneficiary, Salisu Maidawa, who was short of words for the gesture, said the gesture came at a time when he was in dire need of it.

Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Western Zone, has urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately sack Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for allegedly not “keeping up to the fundamental mandate,” upon which the agency was established.
This was contained in a statement jointly signed by Comrade Nicholas Igarama, Comrade Ebi Joshua Olowolayemo, and Comrade Tare Magbei, Western Zone
Chairman, Secretary, and Information Officer respectively, and made available to newsmen in Warri on Thursday, August 14, 2015.
According to the IYC, the call for Ogbe’s sack becomes necessary following his incompetence and ethnic bias, adding that Ogbe has turned the agency meant for the whole Niger Delta to his Itsekiri ethnic group alone.
The IYC, while noting that efforts to meet the NCDMB Executive Secretary to discuss critical issues as they affect the region and its people have proved abortive, said it can no longer fold it arms and watch while things go from bad to worse.
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“As Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Ogbe has consistently failed to input his supposed industry track record in the advancement of the mandate upon which the agency was founded.
“He has continually had a sectional engagement with his fellow Itsekiri Kits and Kin, thereby shutting all other ethnic nationalites in the Niger Delta region out.
“Repeatedly, he avoided critical youth engagement in the region while sponsoring that of his Itsekiri ethnicity through different human capacity development initiatives, while other ethnic nationalites are left unattended.
“As Ijaw, mostly from the western flank where Engr. Ogbe also hails from, we will not sit and watch others benefit from the resources that we produce without our practical involvement to better the lives of our people as well.
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“It is on record that the leadership of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Western Zone has tried to establish communication with Engr. Ogbe, for the last ten months, but every medium of communication to get his attention has fundamentally proven to be abortive.
“As youths, we can no longer have leaders in office who have now equated themselves to demi-god and have refused to attend to most significantly youthful issues in the Niger Delta Region.
“To this end, we therefore call on President Bola Ahmed Tinibu to immediately sack Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, who has consistently displayed disregard for critical actors in the Niger Delta and has also exhibited the highest level of gross inefficiency by not keeping up to the fundamental mandate upon which NCDMB was founded,” the statement reads.
The IYC also called for the probe Ogbe as Executive Secretary after his sack.
Efforts to reach Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, NCDMB, for reaction proved abortive.
News
I’m Being Impersonated – Goodluck Jonathan Disowns Social Media Account
Published
19 hours agoon
August 14, 2025By
Editor
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday said he is being impersonated by fraudsters.
Jonathan alleged that a fraudulent Instagram handle has been impersonating him.
In a statement by his Media Aide,
Ikechukwu Eze, the former President insisted that he does not operate any Instagram handle.
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The statement is titled ‘Beware of fake Instagram account impersonating H.E. Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’.
“Our attention has been drawn to a fraudulent Instagram account operating under the handle goodluck_ebelejonathan, which is falsely impersonating former President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
“This impostor account has been deceitfully posting content, some copied from Dr. Jonathan’s Facebook page, while pretending to represent the former President.
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“We wish to emphasise that Dr. Jonathan does not operate any Instagram account.
“The media and members of the public are strongly advised to disregard, avoid sharing, or promoting any content originating from this fake profile,” the statement read.
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