…As IGP warns against protest
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday, said it was ironic that those who led the 2012 protests are stifling the rights of others to protest.
Atiku Abubakar, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, while reacting to the planned #EndBadGovernance protest, said it was the duty of a responsible government to ensure a safe environment for the people to exercise their constitutional rights.
Organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protest planned from August 1, said it was to draw the Federal Government’s attention to the hardship faced by Nigerians
Recent statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that 133 million Nigerians have fallen below the poverty line, while at least 32 million face acute hunger
Kayode Egbetoku, the inspector-general of police (IGP), has, however, warned citizens against participation in the protest.
Egbetokun, who spoke at a strategic meeting with top officers of the police in Abuja, warned against what he described as an “attempt to replicate the Kenyan experience in Nigeria.”
Read also: Nationwide protest not the solution
But Atiku Abubakar, while reacting to plans to scuttle the protests, in his verified Facebook handle, on Tuesday, said “For the avoidance of doubt, the rights of citizens to protest are ENSHRINED in the Nigerian Constitution and AFFIRMED by our courts.
He cited Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which he said ” unequivocally guarantees the right to peaceful assembly and association.
According to him “Chasing shadows and contriving purported persons behind the planned protests is an exercise in futility when it is obvious that Nigerians, including supporters of Tinubu and the ruling APC, are caught up in the hunger, anger, and hopelessness brought about by the incompetence and cluelessness of this government.
“It is deeply ironic that those who now seek to stifle these rights were themselves leading protests in 2012.
“A responsible government must ensure a SAFE and SECURE environment for citizens to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights to PEACEFUL PROTEST.
“Any attempt to suppress these rights is not only unconstitutional but a direct affront to our democracy”, the former vice president said.
