The presidency has advised former Vice-President Abubakar Atiku to rise above sentiments on the nationwide protest against hardship by considering the country’s stability ahead of whatever advantages he seeks to derive from the demonstration on the streets.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga issued the condemnation on Tuesday night in a statement.
He urged the former vice-president and PDP candidate in the 2023 presidential election to borrow a leaf from opposition figures in the United Kingdom, who have rallied behind the government to condemn the ongoing riots in the UK, calling for the arrest and prosecution of those behind the wanton destruction of public and private assets.
“Such nationalistic temperament as displayed by opposition figures like Rishi Sunak, the immediate-past Prime Minister of UK is expected of Alhaji Atiku,” Onanuga said.
He descended on Atiku for his tweet on Tuesday, where he warned security agencies against using “lethal force against looters and arsonists who masqueraded as protesters.”
The presidency averred that as a statesman, Atiku ought to question the mob in Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, Jigawa states for looting and hijacking what the organisers of the protest against economic hardship intended as a peaceful protest.
The presidency noted that the security forces had remained professional, even-handed, and observed every restraint in the face of extreme provocation by the rioters.
It, however, expressed surprise and berated Atiku for still relying on Section 40 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) “to justify a protest that is now clearly a riot, a rampage in some parts of the country.
“Section 45 of the constitution says the right of assembly and the right of freedom of expression are not absolute. They can be abridged and fettered in the interest of public peace, public safety, law, and order.
“The Service Chiefs reiterated the rights of Nigerians to protest and gather freely. They, however, reinforced their constitutional duty, today, when they said they cannot sit by idly and watch hoodlums destroy the country and its democracy.
“The Service Chiefs and the officers and men of our security outfits should be commended for their patriotic duty to our country,” the statement said.
It further likened Atiku to a supporter and enabler of the destructive ‘protests’, saying he certainly wanted the sinister protest to continue despite the red signals from the streets.
“A tweet that condones the destruction of private and public property and investments of citizens is unbecoming of a former vice-president of Nigeria.
“Alhaji Atiku ought to have risen above the sentiment he expressed and put the interest of our country’s stability ahead of whatever advantages he hoped to reap from the insurrection on our streets,”Onanuga said.
Olawale Ajimotokan
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