The President of the Nigerian Senate, Bukola Saraki, has moved to allay the concerns of social media users and internet freedom advocates by promising that the controversial Social Media Bill will not be passed into law.

"The bill is going nowhere and will not be passed into law," Saraki said on the last day of Social Media Week Lagos.

He told delegates that Nigeria's incumbent administration has benefitted from social media, specifically with regards to the role it played within the country's most recent general elections.

According to Saraki the government recognises the power of social media in the fight against corruption and in combating irresponsibility in governance.

"The role of social media is a big issue, for without social media, we wouldn't have seen a change from a non-performing government to an opportunity for another government to perform. Back in the days, the head of electoral body INEC was the only person that knew the results of elections and he could decide to alter the figures and nobody would know. But now, through the power of social media, we've been able to conduct a transparent election. As results were being collated and announced at the various polling centers, the results went viral making the elections very difficult to rig," Saraki said.

The proposed law, originally entitled the Petitions Bill, has drawn widespread criticism – particularly over the penalties of a two-year jail term and/or a fine of NGN2-million on those who are found guilty of using social media platforms and OTT channels to post abusive statements targeting the government.

Those who oppose the Bill believe it is an attempt to prevent citizens from openly criticising the establishment, which restricts accountability.