The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, issued a statement via his X handle reaffirming the constitutional rights of Nigerian citizens to protest.
Atiku Abubakar criticized former protest leaders, now in power, for stifling citizens’ rights. He defended Nigerians’ constitutional right to peaceful protest, emphasizing that suppressing these rights is unconstitutional and a threat to democracy.
He emphasized, “For the avoidance of doubt, the rights of citizens to protest are enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution and affirmed by our courts. Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as altered) unequivocally guarantees the right to peaceful assembly and association.”
Atiku criticized efforts to undermine these rights, stating that pursuing imaginary instigators of planned protests is futile. He highlighted that Nigerians, including supporters of Tinubu and the ruling APC, are suffering from the hunger, anger, and hopelessness caused by the government’s incompetence and cluelessness.
Atiku also pointed out the irony that those who now seek to suppress these rights were leading protests in 2012. He stressed, “A responsible government must ensure a safe and secure environment for citizens to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights to peaceful protest. Any attempt to suppress these rights is not only unconstitutional but a direct affront to our democracy.”
NN News Media in it worth recalling that President Tinubu, along with Professor Wole Soyinka, Pastor Enoch Adebayo of RCC and other All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders, led the Occupy Nigeria protest in 2012 against ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s policy to remove the fuel subsidy.
On December 1, 2013, Tinubu wrote, “Nigeria needs a democratic revolution that will unleash infrastructural development and massive industrialization. Nigeria is blessed.”
