Nigeria’s parliament Speaker withdraws ‘subversion’ bill

The Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives has withdrawn a controversial bill he had introduced in parliament. A spokesperson for Speaker Abbas Tajudeen said in a statement that he acknowledges the attention the legislation has generated and would never support any action that might disrupt the peace and unity of the nation. According to the Nigeria Vanguard news site, the Counter Subversion Bill would have imposed up to 10 years in jail for refusing to recite the national anthem, destroying national symbols, and defacing places of worship. Peluola Adewale, National Mobilization Officer of what he calls the pro-labor Joint Action Front, tells VOA’s James Butty, Speaker Tajudeen bowed to threats of new nationwide protests