The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) says the peaceful conduct of some Nigerian youths in the ongoing nationwide EndBadGovernance protests must be commended while those who decided to turn the demonstrators into a spree of violence and looting stand condemned.
Hon. Falalu Bello, the
National Chairman of the
PRP who made the assertions in a statement on Wednesday, said the youths held largely “peaceful protests across the nation and conducted themselves peacefully and clearly making their demands of the All Progressive Congress (APC) government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for good governance in Nigeria.”
“We, on the other hand, condemn, in very strong terms, the rioters who infiltrated the peaceful protests in places like Kano and Kaduna States to destroy public property, breach into shops and buildings to steal goods of ordinary Nigerians and the public,” Bello said.
He also called on the government to launch an investigation into reported brutality by security operatives as well as the loss of lives of protesters in different parts of the country.
“As protests are part and parcel of the plural democracy Nigerians have chosen for themselves, we demand full investigation and accountability for the loss of lives and limbs through the use of live ammunition by the Nigerian State Security agencies in many locations where there were killings and maiming of Nigerian citizens,” he said.
“The investigations should establish those responsible and be made to account for their misdeeds. Moving forward, we demand of our Legislators in the National Assembly, legislation that defines rules of engagements of protesters in Nigeria with the security agencies during protests that, inter alia, should prohibit use of live ammunition in all future protests. The use of live ammunition to control protests in Nigeria must be stopped.”
Touching on President Bola Tinubu’s speech last Sunday, Bello said:
“On August 4th, 2024, the 4th day of the 10 days planned protest, as advised the Nigerian government by the protestors, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT), addressed the nation on the nationwide protests. In that address, PBAT acknowledged the protesters demands, called for unity and cooperation of Nigerians to address the nation’s challenges, reaffirmed his commitments to democratic principles and human rights, and pontificated on some of his administration’s achievements, such as an increase in revenue because of blocking leakages on expenditures, an increase in spending on social services such as education, and an increase in revenue accruing to states and local governments.
“In the said 4-8-24 PBAT speech, the president unfortunately neither apologised to Nigerians for the economic hardship his 16-month administration has brought to Nigerians nor for the myriad of problems the nation is facing, such as increased corruption, an increase in the cost of governance, an increase in insecurity, and wasteful expenditures.
“It is not intended in this press release that we do a critique of the 4-8-2024 PBAT speech, but we need to cursorily comment on his claim of increased revenue, an increase in social spending, and an increase in revenue accruing to state and local governments.
“True, there have been increases in revenue to the federal, state, and local governments, but these increases did not come owing to an increase in economic activities or blockage of wasteful expenditures as claimed but came because of the massive devaluation of the national currency and no more.
READ ALSO:PRP urges Nigerian govt to initiate peace moves with #EndBadGovernance protesters
“The revenue increase to N9.1 trillion came because of devaluation, and if this N9.1 trillion is to be divided by the current exchange rate, the nation has earned less than what was earned in the corresponding period of President Muhammadu Buhari’s (PMB) government. We can go on to puncture most of the claims made in the speech and show that the PBAT government is still bedevilled by incidences of bad governance but would not do so.
“We, however, would here humbly suggest to the PABT government to address the concerns of the protesters and other Nigerians by:
1. Addressing the monumental increase in cost of living brought about by the removal of petroleum subsidies, the removal of electricity subsidies, and the devaluation of the naira, which largely increased inflation in Nigeria;
2. Reduction in the costs of governance by reducing the size of the existing cabinet, reducing their salary and perks, and initiating a substantial reduction of the cost of the National Assembly to the nation;
3. Start addressing corruption in the land by prosecuting identified cases of corruption, beginning with his cabinet members and members of the National Assembly with EFCC cases;
4. Address insecurity in the land by giving the security high commands (military and police) time to rid this country of banditry and kidnappings; otherwise, he changes them and appoints those willing and able to address the insecurity in Nigeria; and,
5. Stop wasteful expenditures in the presidency, such as the purchase of a new presidential jet, a presidential yacht, exotic cars for the presidency and the national assembly, etc.
“We have in the eight (8) years of APC government under PMB and since PABT came to power, been addressing the governments at the national level by telling them how to attain good governance in Nigeria, as we have done in this press release today, but we have been totally ignored and even abused when former Senate leadership called us rabble-rousers.
“For this reason, we are today telling Nigerians that the PRP as well as a few other political parties with good ideologies, exist as alternatives to the APC/PDP that have ruined us in the last 25 years.
“We in the PRP have solutions to the high cost of governance, wasteful expenditures, insecurity, and corruption bedevilling the Nigerian nation and shall soon unveil to the nation in piecemeal our programs and policies. This is to prove to Nigerians that truly our party can do it better than the APC.
“In the ongoing protests, we have heard of some people calling for the Nigerian military to take over government in Nigeria. We in the PRP are against this call and believe strongly that the military should be restricted to their constitutional responsibility of protecting the territorial integrity of Nigeria and assisting the Nigeria Police Force to maintain peace when called to do so.
“The Nigerian electorate, we believe, should be allowed to change any bad government through the ballot box. The APC government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu can be changed through the ballot box, and we call on the Nigerian youths, who constitute 67% of registered voters of Nigeria, to massively come out in the next 2 years and 8 months to bring a new government that would have empathy for its citizens and bring good governance to the nation, and this is possible.”
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