* One man’s right ends where another’s begins: Prof Akintola
The controversy surrounding the Senate’s proposed ban on preaching inside commercial buses has deepened, with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) opposing the legislation while the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has thrown its weight behind the bill, insisting that public transport should not become a platform for unsolicited religious preaching.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (Amendment) Bill, 2026, passed by the Senate, seeks to prohibit hawking, trading and preaching inside commercial vehicles. The proposed law prescribes a fine of N50,000 for offenders and now awaits President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s assent.
According to the Senate, the amendment is part of broader efforts to strengthen road safety enforcement by eliminating activities capable of distracting drivers, reducing road crashes and improving the safety of commuters across the country.
Muslim News gathered that if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signs the bill into law, preaching, hawking and trading inside commercial buses will become punishable offences, with violators facing a fine of N50,000 upon conviction.
The amendment also prescribes stiffer penalties for other traffic offences, including drunk driving, reckless driving, speeding and refusal to cooperate with roadside breath tests conducted by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps.
The proposed restriction on bus preaching has, however, sparked sharp reactions from religious organisations, with Christian groups rejecting the provision while Muslim organisations welcomed it as a necessary step towards protecting commuters from distractions and preserving public order.
The debate has largely centred on the balance between the constitutional right to freedom of religion and expression and the rights of commuters to travel without unwanted disturbance or distraction.
Christian bodies reject proposed restriction
The Christian Council of Nigeria and the Organisation of African Instituted Churches were among the first groups to oppose the proposed legislation, arguing that criminalising preaching inside commercial buses would violate constitutional rights.
The Christian Council of Nigeria, in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Rev. Evans Onyemara, said although the organisation supports measures aimed at improving road safety, grouping preaching together with hawking and trading raises serious constitutional concerns.
The council maintained that commercial buses have for decades served as places where Christians share brief messages of hope, repentance and encouragement with willing passengers.
It also faulted the proposed N50,000 fine for hawkers, arguing that many Nigerians engage in street trading because of widespread poverty and unemployment and should not be criminalised for trying to survive.
Similarly, the Organisation of African Instituted Churches urged President Tinubu not to sign the bill in its current form.
Its President, Israel Akinadewo, argued that peaceful religious preaching remains a constitutionally protected activity and should not be treated as a criminal offence.
The organisation called for wider consultations involving religious bodies and civil society organisations before the legislation is signed into law.
CAN joins opposition
The debate intensified after the Christian Association of Nigeria publicly rejected the proposed restriction.
CAN argued that the provision could restrict citizens’ constitutional rights and insisted that preaching inside commercial vehicles represents a legitimate exercise of religious freedom.
Its position attracted criticism from Muslim organisations, which argued that the constitutional rights of the majority of commuters should not be subordinated to the activities of a single preacher inside public transport.
MURIC backs Senate, faults CAN
Reacting to CAN’s position on Saturday, the Muslim Rights Concern described the Christian body’s opposition to the bill as an admission that it sponsors and encourages bus preaching across the country
In a statement released to the media on Saturday, 25th July, 2026, the Executive Director of the Islamic human rights organization said CAN’s rejection of the bill is an admission of guilt.
He added:
“The South-West Chairman of CAN, Bishop Barnabas Akinsanya, issued a statement yesterday, Friday 24th July, 2026 in which he rejected the bill banning preaching inside commercial buses.
“This is very disappointing. It is sad to see a parent body toeing the same path of pervasion taken by its offshoots. By taking this position and by failing to summon enough courage to guide and correct its erring members, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has abdicated its rightful status in loco parentis.
“We are not in any way surprised. In fact we had our doubts when two Christian groups, the Christian Council of Nigeria and the Organisation of African Instituted Churches, spoke out during the week. We had a strong feeling that it was CAN afterall. Now the wind has blown, we have seen the ruff of the hen. It has always been CAN.
“In our statement issued on 20th July, 2026 under the captioned ‘Opposition To Bus-Preaching Bill Exposes Selfish Agenda of Christian Leaders’ we fingered Christian leaders as those behind bus preaching but we stopped short of mentioning CAN by name. Yet we knew that this must be one of CAN’s shenanigans.
“We know the real culprit now that CAN has come out openly in its real nomenclature. CAN is the sponsor, the employer and the enabler of bus preachers.
But should brazen recalcitrance overwhelm the rule of law? We may also want to ask ‘Is CAN civilized to have openly embraced bus preaching?’
CAN hides under the pretext that ‘the provision could restrict citizens’ constitutional rights’. CAN is talking about the rights of a single preacher to disturb a large majority of commuters who are inside the bus. Some using the opportunity to relax, some students going through lecture notes, some businessmen calculating their next moves, etc.
“Is the single preacher the only one that has constitutional rights? What of the 17 or more others in the bus whose rights are being encroached upon by the single preacher? Can the right of the single preacher obliterate those of other passengers? CAN is standing constitutional right on its head. By the way, must the bus preacher’s command for all to ‘Close your eyes as we pray in Jesus Name’ include the driver too?
“The normal scenario inside a commercial bus is that of about 14 or 18 passengers. The bus preacher is only one person. How can one person’s rights rank over and above the rights of all the passengers, including the driver who must be allowed to concentrate.
“We put it to CAN that the correct position of constitutional right is that one man’s rights stop where the rights of others begin. It is a well known law principle that personal freedom has limits. Just like the common saying, You have the right to swing your fist but ‘Your liberty to swing your fist ends just where my nose begins.’
“It simply means you are free to do as you wish, but you cannot hurt or bother other people. Yet that is exactly what CAN wants its bus preacher to do to Nigerians. The preacher is free to preach but in the specially allotted space, in the church or in assemblies of Christians only. That is the ideal position. But this religious body wants its preachers to be above the law, reckless, lawless, uncontrolable, ungovernable! It had better not be.
“CAN is inviting chaos. We warn that if this overzealous group has its way, Muslims in the country who have been silently tolerating their extreme ways will have no other option than to confront bus preachers who make life unbearable for them inside commercial buses on a daily basis. Enough is enough.
“If Christians disallow lawmakers from enacting laws capable of making Nigeria a land of peace for all, law-abiding civilized citizens who want the best for this country will rise to the occasion and do the needful. We will defend our right to decent living, our right to have peace of mind.
“The ideal situation should be that Christians are free to preach inside Christian evangelical vehicles, not one conveying people of different faiths. It will be the same with Muslims and traditionalists. But we all know those two groups do not preach inside commercial buses. Christians enjoy lording their religion over others. We say no to imposition of one faith over the other.
“We urge CAN leaders to pay special attention to Titus 2:1-8, ‘But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, …’ That is where their leadership role will manifest properly.
“We urge Senate to forge ahead with the bill banning bus preaching and we call upon President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reject CAN’s attempt to intimidate the presidency. Nigerians are watching closely. Nigerians are asking: Which way Nigeria? Is it decency or anarchy?
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