The Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), a partisan organization of the All Progressive Congress, has appealed to Nigerians to shelve the planned protest against President Bola Tinubu’s government, slated for August 1 to August 10.
The appeal by the governors was disclosed by Chairman of the Forum and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, after a closed-door meeting with governors in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to Uzodimma, the current moment is not wise for demonstrations, citing challenges such as insecurity, national minimum wage, food security, and economic recession.
He said, “We think it is not wise at this moment for any demonstration by any group of persons be it in whatever guise.
“This is so that we can manage the challenge of insecurity, the challenge of national minimum wage, the challenge of food security and then the struggle to come out of the current economic recession.
“We are using this opportunity to also advise our young boys and girls to desist from being instigated into causing crisis or chaos in the country.
“Already, Nigerians have suffered a lot; the global economic recession, the insecurity in Nigeria, the political tension occasioned by instigations and campaign of calumny by opposition parties, the social media attacks on various policies of government.
“We want to advise for the interest of the country and as a show of patriotism, our citizens must take ownership of this country because we have no other country we can call our own outside Nigeria”
He invited those supporting or instigating protests to discuss and agree on issues.
“We invite all of them to sit down with us in a room so we can discuss and agree on the issues, what they are and proffer solutions.
“We as a body, we are committed to the unity of the country, we are committed to whatever thing that makes Nigerians live better lives, bring prosperity, jobs to be created for young boys and girls who graduated, to be employed.”
Uzodimma reaffirmed the progressives’ support for President Tinubu and his policies, including economic reforms. He appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the government as efforts are underway to alleviate economic hardship.
