President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former vice president Atiku Abubakar have expressed their divergent views over the planned nationwide protests by some groups in the country.
While Atiku flayed what he described as the ‘desperate attempt’ to stifle people’s right by the very Leaders of the 2012 protests against the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, President Tinubu on the other hand, is pleading with Nigerians shelve the planned protests against bad governance in the country.
The planned nationwide protests against economic hardship, hunger and spiral inflation amongst others which is trending on the social media, are been scheduled to commence across all states of the Federation as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, from August 1 to 15, 2024.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, stressed that chasing shadows and contriving purported persons behind the planned nationwide protests would remain an exercise in futility. He specifically said that it was 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 the government.
Atiku particularly castigated the President Tinubu-led federal government and its agencies for trying to abort the planned August 1 nationwide protests, stressing that it is an irony that the same people who protested against the administration of former President Jonathan in 2012, are the very set of people desperately working to stifle other people’s rights to protest.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 elections, pointedly said that citizens have the right to protest as guaranteed by the constitution.
Atiku in a post on his verified X handle, stressed that it was the right of citizens to protest, saying it is guaranteed by the constitution.
He said that what the government needed to do, was to ensure a safe and secure environment for citizens to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights to peaceful protest.
In the words of Atiku; “For the avoidance of doubt, the rights of citizens to protest are ENSHRINED in the Nigerian Constitution and AFFIRMED by our courts.
“Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as altered) unequivocally guarantees the right to peaceful assembly and association.
“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,” he said.
However, President Tinubu has pleaded with Nigerians to shelve the planned protests against bad governance in the country scheduled for next month.
Minister of Information and National Orientaion, Mohammed Idris, who conveyed Tinubu’s appeal to Nigerians while briefing State House correspondents after a meeting with the President on Tuesday, said that Tinubu equally appealed to the organisers of the protest to shelve their plan and await his response to their complaints.
According to Idris; “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 planned nationwide protests is as a result of the excruciating sufferings Nigerians are passing through that included uncontrolled high prices of food and basic commodities for more than one year as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy, increase in electricity tariffs, floating of the Naira among other things.
Following the announcement of the nationwide protests aimed at drawing the federal and state governments attention to the worsening plight of Nigerians, there has been tension across the 36 states of the Federation ahead of the 10-day nationwide protests.
The organisers of the nationwide protests insist on going ahead with their plan, stressing that, “this hunger is too much.”