A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Lere Olayinka has urged the federal and state governments to stop being disturbed by what he termed as an “imaginary” nationwide protest.
Olayinka, former Chief Press Secretary to the erstwhile Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose in a statement on Friday, urged the government to remain focused in discharging its duty, insisting that “no one is planning any protest.”
According to report Nigerian youths who are perturbed by the unfortunate economic reality, have vowed to stage protests across the country starting from August 1 to 10.
However, President Bola Tinubu and the 36 state governors are working tirelessly to ensure that the protest does not hold.
The president had urged the intending protesters to give him more time, stating that his administration is committed to addressing hardship and other issues in the country.
But Olayinka, a PDP House of Representatives candidate in the last general election opined that “protests are not planned and held by giving one month’s notice,” adding that “it is either the government is distracting itself on top nothing or the noise about the protest is being used to distract Nigerians.”
According to him, “Protests are spontaneous reactions to issues, not what is planned for months. The one in Kenya was a spontaneous reaction to the passage of the bill to impose more taxes on the people. It did not start months after the bill had been passed, it started immediately.
“Therefore, the government and its agencies should stop promoting and advertising an imaginary protest that I am not sure anyone is planning. Or how many Nigerians were aware of any protest before the government started speaking about it”?
