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Human Rights Lawyer, Inibehe Effiong speaks to Seun Okinbaloye on the controversy surrounding the protest, among other issues, LILIAN EDWARD brings excerpts.
What is your assessment of the success of this protest?
Well, ordinarily, I would have just gone straight to answer your question. But I would like to respond to a few things Mr Jamiu Abiola has said and to remind Nigerians that in 2019, Mr. Jamiu Abiola told Nigerians that the then Buhari represented the vision of his father. And in fact, he told Nigerians in 2019 to vote for Buhari to honour his father. In 2020, you can fact-check me on this, Jamiu Abiola, who is praising Tinubu today, told Nigerians that Buhari had the same vision as his father. When Buhari left in 2023, thousands of Nigerians were slaughtered. The economy was nothing to write home about. The so-called war against corruption was a complete flock. The entire country was in ruins. Tinubu came in and even he said that he made Nigeria. At least people loyal to him are saying so. So I begin to wonder whether Buhari’s legacy represents the vision of Abiola for Nigeria. I think that is a question Mr. Jamiu and his family should think about because when he is speaking in this manner, it is a discretion of the name of his father. And I am saying that because I am very upset about some of the things he has said. Now, regarding your question, I think Nigerians should no longer be taken for granted. We cannot continue to live in a country where we have leaders who do not listen to what the people are saying. People claim, oh, that the president is doing this and the president is listening. Mr Seun, this protest has lasted for two days now, has President Tinubu spoken to Nigerians? (As at the time this interview was conducted.) I don’t want him to address Nigerians. I want him to address the demands of Nigerians. It is not the same thing. But has he even addressed Nigerians? 48 hours after, dozens of over 12 Nigerians have been killed at a minimum. Has the president spoken? Has the government even said, okay, we want to talk? These are our representatives in the dialogue. Because people kept saying, protesters should talk to the government. They said the protesters are faceless, they are leaderless. Who are the people who represent the face of the government if the conversation or dialogue is to take place? And what are the demands of the protesters? Because you say people should leave the streets, but have you listened to them? Have you listened to them? You have a president that has 48 ministers, the highest in the history of our country, at a time when the country does not have money to run and pay for basic services. If the president is serious, it shouldn’t take him one hour to reduce the number of ministers to 37 because constitutionally, every state is entitled to a minister plus the FCT. There is no reason why Nigeria should have more than 37 ministers. So when the protesters say they need you to reduce the cost of governance, these are actions that can be taken under 24 hours. People say they want electoral reform. You saw how the Akpabio Senate and the counterpart in the House of Reps convened to amend the Police Act to extend the tenure of the IG within 24 hours. Under a 24-hour emergency session, they also passed an appropriation act. If the president is serious about addressing the protesters, by now the Federal Ministry of Justice would have come up with a draft bill to amend the electoral act and send it to the National Assembly to make electronic transmission of results mandatory under our law. This is one of the demands. If the president is serious, he would have addressed other demands of the protesters, including economic policies that have been introduced that have rendered Nigerians homeless and rendered Nigerians hungry. They told us on the 29th of May last year, that the president had removed subsidy. We are aware from records that last year, you can fact check me, about three trillion was paid for subsidy. Where is the fuel? We are still having queues. People cannot find it to buy. They have increased the cost of the electricity tariff which has now made a mess of power in our country. So you continue to introduce policies that are subjugating people. And people are protesting. You haven’t said anything to address it. You want to buy a new aircraft. You are building a new residence for Shettima. And you say there is no money. And you are saying that people should listen. Now, Wike is coming out to make irresponsible statements. I am not surprised and nobody is surprised. The same Wike that was threatening people not to come out in the FCT, you are hearing what the governors are saying because they claim that the president has given money to governors, right, to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians. For me, that is just a largesse because you are dealing with governors who are not accountable. There is no single house of assembly in Nigeria today out of the 36, not one, not in Lagos, not in Akwa Ibom or Zamfara that can hold a governor accountable, not even one. All of them have become stooges of governors. Are you not aware that governors are still spending billions monthly as running costs to buy new vehicles, to run their government houses, on frivolous things? We are dealing with a kleptomaniac political class in our country. We are dealing with people who have made up their minds to destroy our country. So how can the president be giving money to governors that nobody can hold accountable? And they claim they are distributing rice. How many rice, and how many families have received this rice? How many? They claim that they are going to reduce the cost of a bag of rice to 40,000. Maybe in the villa, they are selling it at that amount. In the markets in Lagos, I haven’t seen that. So maybe it’s in the Akpabio Senate that they are selling rice for N40,000. I have not seen it anywhere. So the point I am making is if you are honest about engagement with the protesters because it’s not enough to say you want to engage. Are you honest about it? Are you honest about it? I am excited that in Lagos, the situation is relatively calm. And that is because, at our level, we are also talking, advising the protesters to be calm. But guess what? Even as I speak to you, today we just secured the release of 12 people from Panti. The governor said it is peaceful. The CP said it was peaceful. People are still being arrested. In Calabar, protesters were arrested. So you have provocation all over the country. And the military is even issuing a statement to threaten Nigerians. So which one should we take? If the government is interested in dialogue, government thugs are attacking protesters all over the country. If you are interested in dialogue, who do you want the protesters to talk to? And which of the demands are you willing to make? What concession has Tinubu made so far? None
Although Damilare (of Take it Back Movement) has said that they fired Mr Ebun Adegboruwa as their lawyer, he has advised that the protest should be called off. Earlier on, I spoke with Mr. Paul Alaje, who says there are dire implications of the protest on our economy. In your view, should we continue with these protests because of the implications on our lives? We are running a very tender economy that cannot afford non-productivity any longer. What is your view?
The problem with the economy, in my view, is not the fact that businesses have been impacted in the last two days. The problem with the economy is that, as I said, we have a kleptomaniac, a criminal political class in our country that has subjugated the economy. Because before people went on protest, was the economy saving the interests of the Nigerian people? So, whether the protest should continue or not, it is in the hands of Mr President. All these irresponsible comments go off, can you imagine them saying that it is those who lost the election that are responsible for the protest?
What are you expecting the president to do? How do you think that these protests can stop? Because it doesn’t look like it’s going to be in the interest of the country and I am imagining that the objectives and the effect that the protesters wanted has been established, except if I am wrong. Can these protests continue? In your view, how can it be stopped? What should the president do?
Very simple. Today (August 2), I want to hear Mr Tinubu announce to Nigerians that he has reduced the number of his ministers to 37. I want to hear Tinubu announce that the cost of governance, the cost of running the presidency has been cut by at least 50%. I want to hear the National Assembly and the president announce that the running cost of the National Assembly has been reduced by 50%. I want to hear Tinubu announce that the cost of fuel has been reduced, the electricity tariff has been reduced, and a bill has been sent to the National Assembly to make electronic transmission of results mandatory. I want to hear Tinubu announce that the recommendations of the ENDSARS panel have been implemented. Since 2020, nobody has been held accountable for the killings at the toll gates. People are still in detention. So you cannot say people should leave the streets and you are provoking. Because they keep asking who is provoking, and what is leading to the protests. Apart from Anger, those who are sponsoring these protests are people in government who are making irresponsible statements. If the Tinubu government is serious, some things can be done within 24 hours. How can our National Assembly members be receiving hardship allowance when Nigerians are barely looking for what to eat? Let all these things be abolished. Abolish the office of the first lady. Abolish the office of the first son. Abolish the office of the first daughter. Nigerians will know that you are serious. They are not willing to do that.
But Mr. Effiong, like one of the questions Mr Jamiu Abiola was raising earlier, that it’s too early in the day to blame President Bola Tinubu for some of the rot that has been in this government that he’s trying to fix. Is it possible, for example, that the promoters of the protest and some Nigerians will give Bola Tinubu a chance to maybe a bit more time, maybe when it’s after two years, to see the benefit of the effort and the actions of his government? Is it possible?
I think these questions, with profound respect, are questions that answer themselves. The question of time, as far as I am concerned, is irrelevant. Tinubu was the leader of the APC because they kept saying he made a rot. Who brought Nigeria to its knees? Buhari? Tinubu brought Buhari to power. At least he has said so publicly by himself. So he said Buhari’s policies were his policies. He endorsed his policies. And if Buhari had destroyed the country, how many people in Buhari’s government has Tinubu’s government arrested? Has the EFCC arrested? How many former governors have been put on trial? Where is Yahya Bello? We are still looking for him. So they should stop saying that they made the country destroyed. The people who are serving in Tinubu’s government today played a role in Buhari’s government. The chief of staff to the president was the speaker under Buhari. I can give you several examples. So this attempt to distance Tunubu from Buhari is simply an insult to Nigerians. If this president is serious, I have told you demonstrable actions that he can implement in 24 hours and people will leave the streets. Nobody wants to protest for the fun of it. They are not doing that. They keep saying we made Nigeria destroyed. It was APC that destroyed Nigeria and I am happy they have admitted to it, but they must now repay the damage that they have done to this country because they told us they were going to bring change. Look at where we are. Our new national minimum wage cannot buy a bag of rice. Is that not a scandal in the most populous nation, one of the largest oil-producing countries? And some governors are even saying they cannot implement it. And these are the same people he is giving pocket money to. How can Tinubu be giving pocket money to governors? Governors that cannot be held accountable, governors that have destroyed local government. What an irony. Tinubu attorney general goes to court to say governors should stop stealing or diverting local government money. The same Tinubu is giving money to the same governors. Does that sound like a serious administration that is listening to Nigerians? So the point I am making is that stop demonising the protest. Pull out the military from the streets. Section 218 of our constitution is clear. The military is meant to protect the territorial integrity of our country and can only be called in aid of civil authorities when they are overwhelmed. The police are not overwhelmed. The IG cannot tell us that he’s overwhelmed. Stop the killing of protesters. Begin to address their demands. People will naturally leave the streets. I have told you things they can do before tomorrow morning. The question is, will they do it?
What would be your final thought tonight on the programme going forward?
My final thought is that he (Inibehe Effiong) was very emotional and it’s not the way to go about it. We are trying to resolve issues, not get emotional and get angry. This is something that can be resolved. This is the rule of law country. We have a president who was elected for four years. And there are some hardships. And he (President Tinubu) has said it over and over again. And as I told you before, there are a lot of palliative measures he has done. I mentioned to you the youth empowerment scheme. I mentioned to you the three million jobs for the youth, which are like technical jobs. I also mentioned to you the strategic reserve, like 40,000, you know, for the 2,000 grains of rice. And a lot of things, these things take time. So please, we should be patient and we shouldn’t get insultive and we shouldn’t get emotional. It is not going to help matters.
What’s your final thought? What is the way forward?
You (Tinubu) said that this is your turn. Was it your turn to redeem Nigeria or to further destroy Nigeria? When you go to bed this night, if you are listening to me, please answer that question. One day, you will leave that office. What do you want Nigerians to remember you for? What will the Tinubu legacy be? This is a golden opportunity that you have. Nobody is coming to Aso Rock to remove you. I have not heard that as part of the demands of the protesters. But you have a unique opportunity in history to reset this country for the better. Stop listening to sycophants. Stop listening to those who are cheering you on. The country is on its knees. Reverse course. Stop these wastages and change the face of our country and posterity will remember you. But if you don’t do this, history will judge you very harshly. That is what I can say.
