PRP praises peaceful protesters, condemns rioters

The People’s Redemption Party (PRP) said the peaceful conduct of some Nigerian youths in the ongoing EndBadGovernance protests across the country should be commended while those who decided to turn the demonstrations into violence and looting should be condemned.

Dear Falalu Bello,
National Chairman
The PRP, which made the remarks in a statement on Wednesday, said the youths held “peaceful rallies across the country and conducted their actions peacefully and clearly conveyed their demands to the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for good governance in Nigeria.”

“We, on the other hand, strongly condemn the rioters who infiltrated peaceful protests in places like Kano and Kaduna States to destroy public properties, break into shops and buildings to steal belongings of ordinary Nigerians and the general public,” Bello said.

He also called on the government to launch an investigation into reports of brutality by security forces and the loss of lives of protesters in various parts of the country.

“As protests are an integral part of the plural democracy that Nigerians have chosen for themselves, we demand a full investigation and accountability for the loss of lives and limbs resulting from the use of live ammunition by Nigerian State Security agencies in many locations where killings and mutilations of Nigerian citizens have taken place,” he said.

“The investigation must establish those responsible and be held accountable for their evil deeds. Moving forward, we demand that our Legislators in the National Assembly pass a law that establishes the rules of engagement of protesters in Nigeria with security agencies during protests which, among other things, must prohibit the use of live ammunition in all future protests. The use of live ammunition to control protests in Nigeria must stop.”

Referring to President Bola Tinubu’s speech last Sunday, Bello said:

“On August 4, 2024, the 4th day of the planned 10-day protest, as suggested to the Nigerian government by the protesters, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT), addressed the nation on the nationwide protest. In the address, PBAT acknowledged the demands of the protesters, called for unity and cooperation of Nigerians to address the nation’s challenges, reaffirmed his commitment to the principles of democracy and human rights, and spoke about some of the achievements of his administration, such as increased revenue generation due to the blocking of expenditure leakages, increased spending on social services such as education, and increased revenue accruing to states and local governments.

“In his PBAT speech of 4-8-24, the president regrettably did not apologize to Nigerians for the economic hardships his 16-month administration has caused Nigerians or for the many problems facing the country, such as rising corruption, rising cost of governance, rising insecurity and wasteful spending.

“In this press release, we do not intend to criticize PBAT’s speech of 4-8-2024, but we need to comment briefly on its claims about increased revenue, increased social spending, and increased revenues earned by state and local governments.

“Yes, there has been an increase in revenues for the federal, state and local governments, but this increase has not occurred due to increased economic activity or the blocking of unnecessary spending as claimed, but rather due to a massive devaluation of the national currency and nothing more.

READ ALSO: PRP urges Nigerian government to initiate peaceful steps with protesters #EndBadGovernance

“The increase in revenue to N9.1 trillion was due to devaluation and if this N9.1 trillion is divided by the current exchange rate, the country has earned less revenue than it did during the same period under President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB). We can continue to debunk most of the claims made in the speech and point out that the PBAT government is still plagued by incidents of bad governance but we will not do so.

“However, we humbly propose to the PABT government to address the concerns of the protesters and other Nigerians by:

1. Address the huge increase in the cost of living caused by the removal of petroleum subsidies, the removal of electricity subsidies, and the devaluation of the naira, which significantly increased inflation in Nigeria;

2. Reducing the cost of government by reducing the size of the existing cabinet, reducing their salaries and allowances, and initiating a substantial reduction in the National Assembly’s costs to the country;

3. Begin to eradicate corruption in this country by taking firm action against those suspected of corruption, starting with cabinet members and members of the DPR who are caught up in corruption cases;

4. Address the insecurity in the country by giving time to the top security officers (military and police) to rid the country of banditry and kidnapping; if not, he will replace them and appoint those who are willing and able to address the insecurity in Nigeria; and,

5. Stop wasteful spending in the presidential office, such as purchasing a new presidential plane, a presidential yacht, luxury cars for the presidency and the DPR, and so on.

“In the eight (8) years of APC rule under PMB and since PABT came to power, we have been telling the government at the national level how to achieve good governance in Nigeria, as we did in today’s press release, yet we were completely ignored and even scorned when the former Senate leadership called us troublemakers.

“Therefore, today we tell the Nigerian people that the PRP and several other political parties with good ideologies, are here as an alternative to the APC/PDP that has destroyed us in the last 25 years.

“We in the PRP have the solution to the high cost of governance, wasteful spending, insecurity and corruption plaguing the Nigerian nation and will soon unveil our programmes and policies to the nation bit by bit. This is to prove to Nigerians that our party can indeed do better than the APC.

“In the ongoing protests, we have heard some people calling for the Nigerian military to take over the government of Nigeria. We in the PRP oppose these calls and strongly believe that the military should be confined to their constitutional responsibility of protecting the territorial integrity of Nigeria and assisting the Nigeria Police to maintain peace when called upon to do so.

“We believe that the Nigerian electorate should be allowed to change bad governance through the ballot box. The APC government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu can be changed through the ballot box, and we call on the Nigerian youths, who constitute 67% of the registered voters in Nigeria, to take to the streets en masse in the next 2 years and 8 months to bring in a new government that will be empathetic to its citizens and bring good governance to the country, and this is possible.”

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