Lawyer and human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has said that groups distancing themselves from the planned protest are hungry people paid by the government and warned that the government will learn a bitter lesson on 1st August.
During an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, Adeyanju asserted, “The groups distancing themselves from the protest, you cannot pull out from a protest that you did not organise and were not invited to join. These are hungry people who have been paid by the government to come on air to embarrass themselves and their families. The government has been sharing billions to different groups of people trying to frustrate the protest. You are going to see what will happen all over Nigeria on the 1st of August.”
emphasised the peaceful nature of the protest, stating, “Nigerians are going to express themselves in line with section 40 of the constitution that Nigerians have the right to assemble and gather and express their grievances at government at all levels.”
He criticised Tinubu’s past actions and their attempts to prevent the protest, highlighting the irony of the current administration’s stance.
“The government cannot tell people when to protest or how to complain about the maladministration of the government, especially considering the fact that Tinubu was a perpetual protester who funded protests against Jonathan government regarding the fuel subsidy removal,” Adeyanju said.
He further condemned the government’s actions, saying, “The government wants Nigerians to come and dialogue with the president but this same president on Wednesday sent an executive bill to the National Assembly, the National Assembly accelerated hearing to extend the tenure of the IG in one day and they even made mistakes in the amendment. He did that for nepotistic reasons; he did not send an accelerated bill to end the sufferings of Nigerians.”
Adeyanju also addressed the economic conditions in Nigeria, saying, “Today we are battling with hyperinflation where 100,000 naira is now the new 10,000 naira. Go to many parts of the country today, people cannot afford one square meal. People are eating grass in many parts of northern Nigeria.”
In a stark warning, he stated, “The real protest will not be announced, and all the APC people telling Nigerians not to protest will become victims. Our laws are designed to favour a few people. The principal officers in the National Assembly have 2,000 aides working for them. How can a nation of over 200 million people allow a few people to have this number of aides?”
Adeyanju concluded by appealing to Nigerian youth, “In all, I appeal to Nigerian youth to conduct a peaceful protest and to the government to recruit peaceful thugs.”
NNEOMA UDENSI
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