Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on media and publicity, says no government official has the authority to deny Nigerians their right to peaceful protests.
Ngelale was speaking on TVC while reacting to the nationwide
protest against hunger slated for August 1-10.
“Let me put it on record that we have heard certain utterances
from some members of even our own administration, and indeed from some
subnational entities in the country, suggesting that Nigerians do not have the
right to protest and that they would be stopped from protesting,” Ngelale said.
“I want to be very clear this evening in front of the nation
in saying that there is nobody within our administration that has the standing,
the command, or the gravitas to tell any Nigerian citizen that they cannot
peacefully protest in any part of this country.
“We are not in office
to dominate our people. We are in office to serve our people and this is the
position of the president.
“His Excellency President Bola Tinubu has been very clear
that the notion of peaceful protest is a central component of an effective
functioning democracy.”
Ngelale said Tinubu is committed to protecting the rights of
Nigerians and meeting the needs of the people.
He said the president is committed to reviving Nigeria’s
economy despite the challenges inherited from previous administrations.
He urged Nigerians to be patient as the administration
implements a “comprehensive plan” to improve living conditions of the people.
He urged governments at the state and local levels to
implement projects that align with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu
administration.
“You have over 300 roadways across all states of the
federation being reconstructed and that is not including the superhighway from
Lagos to Calabar that is under construction, the Badagry to Sokoto highway and
many others, not to talk of $1 billion being right now expended on seaport
reconstruction across the eastern and western seaports,” he said.
“There are several
things that are going on now that create direct employment and set us up for a
prosperous future where our infrastructure actually supports the foreign direct
investment drive that this president is aggressively pursuing.
“But it is also incumbent upon our administration, not just
at the federal level, but obviously incumbent on the state and local levels, to
ensure that whatever policies are being implemented to create fiscal space for
households, that these things are actually done, that we don’t have any kind of
administrative incompetence, that we don’t have unnecessary bureaucratic
delays.”
Ngelale lauded the recent supreme court ruling granting
financial independence to local governments, describing it as a “practical form
of restructuring”.
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