Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar has said that anybattempt to suppress the right of the people to protest is a direct affront to democracy.
Atiku spoke in reaction to the planned nationwide protest against bad governance, the current economic hardship amongst other chalengee. The nationwide protest has been scheduled for August 1 to 10.
Taking to his verified Facebook page on Tuesday, the 2023 presidential candidate under the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, expressed concern that even supporters of President Bola Tinubu and the ruling APC are not left out of the hardship.
He wondered why President Tinubu and some key figures who were part of the nationwide protest against the Goodluck Jonathan government in 2012 were attempting to stop the planned protests.
He wrote, “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.
“Chasing shadows and contriving purported persons behind the planned protests is an exercise in futility when it is obvious that Nigerians, including supporters of Tinubu and the ruling APC, are caught up in the hunger, anger, and hopelessness brought about by the incompetence and cluelessness of this government.
“It is deeply ironic that those who now seek to stifle these rights were themselves leading protests in 2012. 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,” he said.
