The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has opposed the proposed Social Media Shutdown Bill before the National Assembly, saying it is an attempt by the Federal Government to silence Nigerians ahead of the 2027 general election.
In a post on X, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the bill showed how much confidence the Tinubu administration had in its chances of winning the next election.
He said, “The proposed Social Media Shutdown Bill tells us everything that we need to know about how confident the Tinubu government is about its chances in 2027.”
According to Abdullahi, “A government that is confident in its record does not spend its time looking for new ways to control where Nigerians can speak. It spends its time giving Nigerians something to applaud.”
He also said, “This bill deserves to be rejected by all Nigerians because it threatens every Nigerian’s right to speak freely.”
The ADC’s position came after the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) also asked the National Assembly to withdraw the bill, which would require social media companies and bloggers operating in Nigeria to establish physical offices with verifiable addresses in the country.
In a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, SERAP warned that the proposal could lead to the exclusion or shutdown of social media platforms and violate the rights of millions of Nigerians.
The organisation said the bill “would create sweeping powers capable of shutting down or excluding social media platforms from the Nigerian market” and expose Nigerians to serious violations of their constitutional rights.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko, passed its second reading in the Senate in March 2025 and is currently awaiting further consideration by the Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber Security.
Nwoko has maintained that the proposal is intended to improve tax collection from digital businesses and strengthen regulation, not to target social media companies.
He argued that the absence of local offices has made it difficult to address users’ complaints, enforce regulations and create jobs.
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