The People Republican Party ( PRP) Vanguard and Nigeria Patriotic Front Movement ( NPFM) has called on Nigerians, that the ‘Tazarce (sit tight) syndrome’ that some ranking regime actors are toying with to keep the All Progressive Congress (APC )regime in office beyond 2027, must not allowed in a democratic republic.
The body then advised the teeming masses not to succumbed to the present regime to denied them their fundamental right of voice out their displeasure through protest against unfriendly policies because the masses have right to protest
This was contained in a communique, tagged “Shrinking human rights, space,rising political repression and economic crisis in Nigeria” after a meeting held in Kano ,a copy signed by
National Chairman, PRP – Vanguard;National Chairman, NPFM Alhaji Comrade Abdulmajid Yakubu Daudu,and made available to press in Kano
According to him,”We are in a state of prolonged and intense hardship in Nigeria that has ravaged the lives of millions across the country. Official figures put the number of people living in poverty at 134 million”
“But we all know that the real figure is much higher. We may be talking about 140 to 145 million extremely poor people, as the number keeps growing by the day. No respite.”
The communique reads ” The extreme poverty in Nigeria is man made. It is regime manufactured. It is public policy at work. It is the byproduct of bad governance, by bad actors: Greedy, self serving, and insensitive to the plight of the ‘talaka’. “
The poor masses are therefore on their own, in a state that is committed to mass extraction of taxes, rates, fees, charges, and profits from the flesh, toil, and blood of the working and non working poor.
Comrade Daudu then emphasised that ” We,the PRP–VANGUARD, and our sister organisation, the NPFM, reaffirm our commitment to the struggle of our people for emancipation from state driven exploitation and reproduction of mass poverty.”
“We restate our stand, without equivocation, that we will continue to peacefully protest against bad governance, bad government, high cost of governance, grand corruption, privatisation of the NNPC and electricity distribution; food inflation; high cost of fuel and electricity; limited access to education as human rights; mass hunger and starvation in our communities and across the country.”
He then stated “We will continue on this path knowing fully well that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as Amended) guarantees us the right to freedom of assembly, association, and expression, and the right to protest freely and peacefully.
According to him,” Arrest and detention, harassment and intimidation against activists have multiplied. Criticism of the regime is not tolerated.
Even the mainstream political opposition are not free to challenge regime policies without threats visited on them. The political space is tightening. he said
Only government praise singers, spin doctors, manipulators, and blatant liers are free to express their propaganda for their big boss
. The rest of us are expected to shut up or face the consequences,he said
He therefore vowed that ” But
we will not. Nigeria is not a police state. We will not allow it to become one. Therefore we will continue to promote the rights of Nigerians to freely and peacefully protest against bad public policy and bad governance.
We call on Nigerians not to allow themselves to be cowed by bogus treason charges or fabricated cyber crimes charges for lawful but critical social media posts that expose government corruption, police brutality, community insecurity, financial crimes, judicial abuse, and state management failures generally.
We have a duty of care to our communities. We cannot afford to stay silent in the face arbitrary salary cuts imposed on federal workers since January this year, as is the case with even the police and civil servants.