THE chairmen of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have declared that they would not stand by and allow ‘undemocratic forces’ to overthrow the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu under the guise of protest.
Addressing journalists at the APC national secretariat in Abuja on Monday, July 29, the party leaders, through the Cross River State APC chairman, Alphonsus Ogar Eba, urged Nigerians to resist participating in the protest.
The ICIR reports that some Nigerians, along with a group led by former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, have been mobilising for nationwide protests scheduled for the first week of August.
The posts and tweets on the protest carry different hashtags, ranging from #RevolutionNow, #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria, #TakeItBack, #DaysofRage and #TinubuMustGo.
However, since then, some state actors, including the presidency, military, SSS and police, have threatened the protest organisers, calling on them to suspend the plan.
Speaking against the protest, the Cross River State APC chairman who doubles as the secretary of the APC State Chairmen Forum said, “As the ruling party, we are prepared to meet every contestant in 2027 but we will not fold our arms and allow undemocratic forces to topple the government we worked so hard to elect into office. That will be a disservice to the good people of Nigeria who freely gave us this mandate.
“We call on all patriotic Nigerians to resist any attempt by anyone or any group of persons to intimidate them into unorganised protest likely to endanger the peace we currently enjoy as a nation. We call on patriots to join forces with security agencies to report any criminal element who attempts to carry out any act of violence.
“Against this background, in the next two weeks commencing from today 29th July to 11th August 2024 and from this press briefing, which shall follow with a solidarity rally by all structures of our party across all political wards, LGAs and states capital including Abuja FCT. We shall embark on peaceful rally to re-echo the laudable projects and the programmes of President Tinubu with greater vigour to protect and defend our democracy from any attack by hoodlums or some criminal elements who want to carry out violent protest,” he added.
He noted that the hunger protest would worsen the nation’s already challenging socio-economic situation.
“Protest is a constitutional right when done through the rule of law. However, security reports have shown that it is counterproductive to embark on this protest this time as there are sinister arrangements by some unpatriotic persons to hijack the protest for the sole purpose of unleashing nefarious agenda to perpetrate violence and indulge in high-level criminality reminiscent of the 2020 Endsars protest and the recent experience in Kenya.
“It is our humble view that this will worsen our already challenging socio-economic situation and that is why we have decided to join our voices to make this appeal to all Nigerians,” he added.
The ICIR had reported how the Nigerian military accused the organisers of the planned protest of intending to replicate the recent demonstrations in Kenya, which led to deaths, destruction and drastic actions from the country’s president.
“The Armed Forces on its part will not stand by and allow anarchy to befall our nation,” a Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, said at a media briefing in Abuja, on Thursday, July 25.
The military’s stance aligns with the positions of a few other state actors, including the presidency and the police, who have also issued stern warnings against any protest.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M