Lekki Massacre: Desmond Elliot Denies Sponsoring A Bill To Regulate Social Media [Video]

Desmond Elliot, the lawmaker representing Surulere 1 at the Lagos State House of Assembly, has denied that he is pushing for a bill to regulate social media activities.

In a video posted on his Instagram page, Desmond Elliot was reacting to a post from a Twitter user, Dr Olufunmilayo, who said the social media bill is aimed at shutting down any circulation of videos and pictures from the Lekki Toll Gate massacre, which happened on Tuesday, October 20, 2020.

However, the actor turned politician described the reports as “unfounded”, adding that it was not in the jurisdiction of the state government to pass such a bill.

“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 Olufimilayo 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.’

“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.”

Desmond Elliot also clarified that his remarks were directed at celebrities and social media influencers not to escalate tension in the country.

“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.”

To emphasis his point, Elliot further captioned the video, “I never said that. No bill to that effect. No house of Assembly can develop such a bill.”

 

In a swift response to the law maker’s video, Dr Olufunmilayo told Elliot to, “please release to the world what you said about celebs and influencers.”

“Dear Desmond Elliot, thanks for your quick correction. In the spirit of honesty and transparency, can you please release to the world what you said about celebs and influencers, can you also let the whole world see the video of what you said about social media regulation? Thanks.

“On today’s plenary session, I have reliable information Desmond Elliot blamed celebs/influencers for the carnage and went ahead to advocate social media regulation bill. The link to the video is http://lagoshouseofassembly.gov.ng/live/ It has been tampered with. Can they pls release the video?”

KanyiDaily recalls that Desmond Elliot had also openly declared that the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu is his godfather.