You have right to protest, but not to destabilise Nigeria, Akpabio warns protesters
Story from Uji A. ILIYASU
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said, while the Nigerian youths seeking to protest bad governance have the right to do so, they do not have the right to destabilise the county.
Akpabio stated this during the signing of the new national minimum wage into law by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday.
He accused politicians who lost out during the last general elections for being behind the protest to take over the government “through the backdoor.”
Akpabio who stated that he was excited about the Nigerian worker and the national minimum wage amendment said: “It is a great day for the workers in the country.
We are not only doubling the minimum wage, we have added something on top. Initially, it was N30,000, now it is N70,000.
“Like I said, this is minimum, this is not maximum. Any employer that has the capacity can pay as much as they want. But no Nigerian worker will offer services and be paid anything less than 70,000 from today.
That is the implication of this act. It applies all over the nation.
“We are excited that this is happening at a time like this through President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; a man who cares for the Nigerian workers.
And you’ve seen what we are doing in the National Assembly. When it came, the National Assembly moved and passed the bill in one day out of excitement.
We felt that this was not something we could delay. So I think the workers are happy.
“I want to use this opportunity to call on those who are attempting to foment trouble to be aware that they have the right to protest.
It is their fundamental right. It is there in the constitution.
“But you don’t have the right to destabilise the country. The right to protest should not be turned into the right to unleash violence.
It’s very clear that people who are behind this are very amorphous, very faceless. So what it means is people are preparing to loot and go round and do all sorts of things.
READ ALSO: N70,000 minimum wage applies to drivers, nannies, gatemen Senate President
Where we are today was not caused by one year’s administration.
“It is the outcome of years of insecurity. Many people could not go to farms for almost 10 years and know the president has risen to the occasion.
“Every food item that is coming in now will come in without anything like a restaurant solution.
There’s no restrictions, because Nigerians need to eat. And then at the same time, most things are coming in with a lot of waivers.
“So my appeal to the Nigerian youth is do not allow any group to mislead you politically.
People who probably do not have their fortunes in 2023 election are thinking they can come through the back door and that will amount to anarchy.
“Any destruction of any property will cause Nigeria money. We don’t have the money. Instead, let’s put the money in developing you and developing your environ instead of going to rebuild.”
Akpabio also disclosed that the bill for the amendment of the budget to finance the new minimum wage will be signed on Wednesday.
Answering questions on the bill to finance the new minimum wage, he said, “We have gone very far with it. And I expect that by Wednesday it will be signed.”
Also speaking, the representative of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, said President Tinubu has shown, by signing the bill into law, that he cares about the Nigerian people.
“So I think this movement from N30,000 to N70,000, and reducing the negotiation from five to three years, is a clear demonstration of a commitment to redirect, refocus and reposition Nigeria for greatness.
Proofreading, editing by Uji A Iliyasu, Editor at Neptune Prime
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