Tinubu appeals to Nigerians to shelve protest against hardship

President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerians to shelve the planned ‘EndBadGovernance’ protest scheduled for next month.

Mohammed Idris, the information minister, addressing selected State House correspondents after a meeting with the president on Tuesday, conveyed Tinubu’s message to the protest organisers, requesting them to hold off and wait for the government’s response to their concerns.

““The issue of the planned protest, Mr President does not see any need for that. He’s asked them to shelve that plan. He’s asked them to await the government’s response to all their pleas,” the minister said.

The protest, set to take place across all states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on August 1, is a response to economic hardship and has been gaining momentum on social media.

Recently, the prices of food and basic commodities have surged, as Nigerians face severe inflation and economic crisis triggered by the government’s policies on petrol subsidy removal and forex window unification.

The Federal Government, the National Orientation Agency (NOA), the Nigeria Police Force, and the House of Representatives have all issued warnings against the planned demonstration.

Also, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Senator Ali Ndume have urged President Tinubu to address the grievances of the discontented individuals, who are primarily youths.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, on Saturday, accused supporters of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, of planning the anti government protest.

He warned that the protest could escalate into the kind of destruction seen during the EndSARS protests against police brutality and extrajudicial killings in October 2020.