Election losers sponsoring nationwide protest

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has accused the candidates who lost out in the 2023 presidential election of sponsoring the planned nationwide protest.

Mr Akpabio spoke on Monday at the State House, Abuja, after he witnessed President Bola Tinubu’s signing of the new minimum wage bill into law.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labour Party, Omoyele Sowore of African Action Congress (AAC) and others ran against President Tinubu in the election.

Some individuals and organisations in the country have planned a nationwide protest over the hardship occasioned by the economic policies of the Tinubu administration. The protest will be held ⁸ 1 and 10 August.

The senate president, however, said those who lost the election thought they could use the protest to claim the mandate through the back door.

“People who probably do not have their fortunes in the 2023 election are thinking they can come through the back door, and that will amount to anarchy,” Mr Akpabio said.

He cautioned the intended protesters to ignore damaging properties.

“Any destruction of any property will cost Nigeria money. We don’t have the money. Instead, let’s put the money into developing you and developing your environs instead of going to rebuild”.

Protesters planning to loot people’s properties

Mr Akpabio also raised the alarm that some people are planning to use the protest to loot properties and commit other atrocities.

“So I want to use this opportunity to call on those who are attempting to foment trouble; that you have a right to protest. It is your fundamental right. It is there in the constitution.

But you don’t have a right to destabilise the country. The right to protest should not be turned into the right to unleash violence.

“It’s very clear that people who are behind this are very amorphous, very faceless. So what it means is that people are preparing to loot and go round and do all sorts of things,” he added.

The senate president noted that the hardship in the country was not caused by the economic decisions of President Tinubu but by the consequences of the policies of the past governments.

“Where we are today was not caused by one year’s administration. It is the outcome of years of insecurity. Many people could not go to farms for almost 10 years, and know that, and the President has risen to the occasion.

“Every food item that is coming in now will come in without anything like a restaurant solution. There are no restrictions; bring in food because Nigerians need to eat. And then at the same time, most things are coming in with a lot of waivers.

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“So for me, I’m excited that, yes, indeed, the government is doing what it should. And we, the leaders in the National Assembly, are touching our various constituencies. So my appeal to the Nigerian youth is, do not allow any group to mislead you politically,” Mr Akpabio said.

Last week, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, said the foreign mercenaries were involved in the planning of the protest.