He further added that the leader of the movement, Omoyele Sowore, the Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) of the 2019 polls, “wants to forcefully change the government after being rejected by Nigerians.”
Briefing State House Correspondents on Wednesday, after a meeting of the APC National Working Committee (NWC), with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Oshiomhole stated that although he is in support of the fact that Nigerians have the right to protest, they must properly articulate their grievances before embarking on such protests.
Recalling his days as a labour leader, when they protested against anti-people policies of a former president, the APC leader said “his intention was never to push the then President out of power through undemocratic means, unlike Sowore who called for a change of government through revolution, having failed to win the February 23, 2019, presidential election.”
When asked on his reaction to government’s clamp down on people who also wanted to exercise their freedom of the right to protest, Oshiomhole said: “What was the reason for protest? Let’s be honest! I have led series of protest even to this villa. Whoever wants to protest should articulate the particulars of his grievances and make specific demands about the solutions that he wants.
“Now Nigerians have voted, the votes have been counted and he was not a favored candidate, what does he want now? That Nigerians must make him as the president?
“Because we all have to be careful, nobody should talk as if we have another country. We have challenges but somehow we have all resolved as a people that the way to power is in the ballot box. Our task as a people is to continue to work to clean up the system so that only Nigerians alone shall determine who governs them at all levels.
“That I believe is a legitimate thing to fight for. But if you want to overthrow, you want a revolution then he should have spared us the INEC putting him on the ballot paper.
“I don’t want to talk about this but I believe Nigerians have a right to protest, I believe people have a right to contest issues, people have the right to disagree. I have often said government doesn’t have the right to dictate to people how to protest, but you must state exactly what you want.”
Further speaking, Oshiomhole disclosed that the NEC presented the financial statement of his party’s spendings in the 2019 general election.
The APC chairman who was accompanied by members of the NWC said it was important to brief President Buhari on detail expenditure of how the party financed the exercise as well as the results achieved.
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