President Bola Tinubu has pleaded with aggrieved Nigerians, especially the youths planning a national protest over the high cost of living, to shelve the action, insisting there is no need for it.
The President assured those behind the planned protest that he has heard their grievances and is working seriously to ensure that all their concerns are addressed.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, conveyed the President’s plea while speaking with State House correspondents after a meeting with Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Idris said the President is dedicated to improving the country’s economic situation and emphasized that Tinubu listens to the citizens, especially the youth, and takes their concerns seriously.
“We discussed the issue of the country in general and Mr President has asked me to again inform Nigerians that he listens to them, especially the young people that are trying to protest,” Idris said.
“Mr President said he listens to them and takes what they say seriously and he is working assiduously to ensure that this country is good not just for today, but also for the future.
The issue of the planned protest, Mr President does not see any need for that.
He asked them to shelve that plan and he has asked them to await the government’s response to all their pleas. He has listened to them.”
Meanwhile, the face-off between Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayou Onanuga, and the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, took a new twist yesterday.
Obi’s lawyers demanded N5 billion and an apology within 72 hours from Onanuga for accusing him and his supporters of high treason in allegedly masterminding the planned “EndBadGovernance protest.”
Former presidential aspirant and LP chieftain, Professor Pat Utomi, also challenged Onanuga to provide evidence of his involvement in the planned protest or face N500 billion litigation.
Obi’s lawyers, led by Chief Alex Ejesieme, SAN, of Madiba Chambers, emphasized that Onanuga’s allegations were a calculated plot to demean, ridicule, and embarrass Obi, causing serious emotional injury given his decades of public service.
They demanded a retraction and apology in four national newspapers within 72 hours.
Utomi, reacting in a personally signed statement, warned Onanuga to withdraw his statement or face legal action, demanding N500 billion in damages for what he described as “fake news, hate speech and intent to procure state murder of an innocent citizen.”
The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the South-East Revival Group (SERG) have also condemned Onanuga’s allegations against Obi, urging the Federal Government to address the citizens’ economic hardships instead of politicizing hunger and deprivation.
Details soon.
