Ignore anti-protest remarks by government officials, Ajuri Ngelale tells Nigerians

According to Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, no government official has the authority to deny Nigerians their right to peaceful protest.

Ngelale was responding to TVC about the nationwide protest against hunger that was scheduled to take place from August 1 to 10.

“I would like to put on record that we have heard certain statements from some members of even our own administration, and even some sub-national entities in the country, suggesting that Nigerians have no right to protest and that they would be stopped from protesting,” Ngelale said.

“I want to be very clear to the nation tonight in saying that there is no one in our government who has the status, the command or the seriousness to tell a Nigerian citizen that he or she cannot protest peacefully anywhere in 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 made it very clear that the idea of ​​peaceful protest is central to an effectively functioning democracy.”

Ngelale said Tinubu is committed to protecting the rights of Nigerians and addressing the needs of the people.

He said the President is determined to revive the Nigerian economy despite the challenges the country inherited from previous administrations.

He urged Nigerians to be patient as the government implements a “comprehensive plan” to improve the living conditions of the people.

He urged governments at state and local levels to implement projects that align with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration.

“Over 300 roads are being rebuilt in all the states of the federation and that is not to mention the Lagos-Calabar superhighway that is under construction, the Badagry-Sokoto expressway and many others, not to mention the $1 billion currently being spent on the reconstruction of the seaports in the Eastern and Western seaports,” he said.

“There are several things happening now that are creating direct jobs and preparing us for a prosperous future where our infrastructure actually supports the foreign direct investment push that this president is aggressively pursuing.

“But it is also the responsibility of our governance, not just at the federal level, but of course at the state and local level, to ensure that whatever policies are implemented to create financial space for households, that these things are actually done, that we do not have any form of administrative incompetence, that we do not have any unnecessary bureaucratic delays.”

Ngelale praised the recent High Court ruling granting local governments financial independence, describing it as a “practical form of restructuring”.