Protests Sweep Across States, Presidency Points To Alleged Political Maneuvering

Eko Hot Blog reports that the Presidency has faulted the nationwide protests led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that took place across multiple states on Tuesday, alleging that some people are leveraging the economic situation in the country to further their own political agenda.

The protests saw large turnouts in cities like Abuja, Lagos, Ogun, Plateau, Delta, Benin, Osogbo, Akure, Port Harcourt, Sokoto, Jos, Katsina, Oyo, Osun, Gombe, Benue, Kogi, Ondo, and others.

Protesters demonstrated against rising costs, economic hardship and fuel price hikes after the removal of subsidies.

However, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale criticized the NLC protests as “unnecessary” in an interview on TVC. Ngelale claimed there is no unanimity behind NLC’s actions, citing the withdrawal of Trade Union Congress (TUC) and National Association of Nigerian Students from the protests.

According to Ngelale, “Any labour union that is speaking to the concerns of Nigerian families, the pains that are being felt by our people, is absolutely free to do so. It is right that Nigerians speak up in difficult situations. And the government has been doing everything possible to alleviate those concerns. But we also want to separate the legitimate concerns being expressed by some of the labour unions from people trying to leverage some of the situations in the country to achieve a political agenda.”

But NLC President Joe Ajaero who spoke at the National Assembly in Abuja insisted that “We are here today because there is hunger in the land. In the last week, it was a struggle for us to come to the street but we are here today. History will not forgive us if we do not protest today and tell the government that there is hunger in the land.”

Ajaero said a bag of rice now costs over N70,000 while minimum wage is N30,000. He lamented “How long will Nigerians continue to suffer?”

The NLC protests aim to pressure the federal and state governments to tackle the economic crisis and hardship facing citizens. But the Presidency sees a political motive in the nationwide demonstrations, alleging some want to take advantage of the situation to push their own agenda.

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