For Immediate Release
August 5, 2024
Abuja, Nigeria
Press Statement
The President is Yet to Engage the People’s Demands
Yesterday, on the fourth day of the nationwide #EndBadGovernance peaceful protests, the President finally addressed the nation. In the 38-paragraph speech, he highlighted some of the government’s policies to course-correct the economy largely in the medium to long term. Unfortunately, he did not address the core demands of Nigerians across the country who are calling for good governance and immediate change from the downward trend in accountability and social development. He also failed to acknowledge that the security force’s response to protesters had resulted in the extra-judicial killing of several protesters, and missed the opportunity to assure the nation that their perpetrators will be held accountable.
The Nigerian government must not forget that “Sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria, from whom government, through this Constitution, derives all its powers and authority.” Section 14(2)(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), thus it is imperative to engage citizens from the perspective of their needs within their stated demands.
Over the last few weeks, Nigerians have planned, mobilised, curated different demands, and given the government adequate notice. We recognise that citizens have taken ownership of the demand to #EndBadGovernance and have contributed to the list of demands in circulation from their pain points. As civil society groups and stakeholders in the polity, we have streamlined the demands based on consultations, to midwife a peaceful and holistic engagement of issues by the government, and the table below shows how the president responded, in his speech, to each of the five core demands.
Except for increased investment in agriculture and student loan disbursements, the demands that require process were ignored completely – (1) Protect farms & farmers; (2) Human capital development; (3) Electoral reform; (4) Establish a living wage; and (5) Constitutional & judicial reforms.
| Issue | President’s Response | Assessment | |
| Immediate Demands | |||
| 1 | Hunger
Reduce the cost of food with solutions like food importation, subsidised credits, and intervene in logistics and storage challenges. |
|
Partial response.
What are the immediate interventions? These are medium to long-term interventions. What were the monies released to states for specifically? In which ministry is it domiciled? How much did each state get? |
| 2 | Cost of Living
Immediate measures to address the rising cost of living with significant reductions in the price of fuel, electricity tariffs, and import taxes. |
Silence. | |
| 3 | Insecurity
A plan to curb insecurity across the country: stop diverting security resources (money & people) and prosecute known instigators & criminals. Also provide a plan to resettle internally displaced persons (IDPs). |
Silence. | |
| 4 | Corruption /
Government Waste / Cost of Governance / Bloated NASS PERMANENT 50% reduction in the running costs of the executive and National Assembly and an Implementation Plan for the Oronsaye Report to scrap agencies and reduce the size of government. Scrap hardship, entertainment, and all other NASS allowances and immediately remove all 7,447 projects worth N2.24 trillion inserted by the National Assembly in the 2024 federal budget. Transparency and prosecution of corrupt players in the oil & gas sector. |
Silence. | |
| 5 | #EndSARS
Release ALL #EndSARS protesters; obey ECOWAS judgment; make public the #EndSARS Judicial Panel Reports and implement recommendations, including payment of compensations |
Silence. | |
The President has expressed the government’s openness to dialogue with protesters on these demands. It is therefore our candid advice that this is pursued by officials and representatives of both sides with sincerity of purpose. This should begin with an immediate release of all arrested peaceful protesters and sanctions against security agents who attacked unharmed peaceful protesters. We remind the government that should security forces continue to aggravate protesters, it may become difficult to broker dialogue. It is our recommendation that representatives of the National Peace Committee and reputable civil society groups serve as facilitators and observers of this dialogue process and its outcomes.
The protesters have said they will continue their peaceful demands on the streets until Saturday, August 10. We urge the federal government to concede the low-hanging requests as a reassurance of its commitment to citizen-centered governance and leadership.
Signed:
- Accountability Lab Nigeria
- BudgIT Foundation
- Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID)
- Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria
- #FixPolitics
- Global Rights
- Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA)
- Media Rights Agenda (MRA)
- Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC)
- Sesor Empowerment Foundation
- TechHer
- Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC)
- Yiaga Africa
Abuja: edosao@globalrights.org; odeh@accountabilitylab.org | Lagos: edet@mediarightsagenda.org; yemi@eienigeria.org