Keyamo, Oshiomhole Say Ongoing Protest Is Political Power Play

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has described the nationwide hunger and end bad governance protest as a complex chess game of power with unseen hands.

In like manner, former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole said the protest has assumed an agenda to achieve regime change by those who lost out politically.

Recall that some prominent Nigerians and political parties, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) faulted the president’s speech as failing to address the yearnings of the agitators.

But Keyamo, a senior lawyer, in a tweet, reacting to comments on President Bola Tinubu’s speech appealing to protesters to halt demonstrations, said those bent on instigating mayhem in the system were always going to denigrate the president’s speech no matter how many redrafts he does.

He said, “Even if Mr. President @officialABAT redrafts his wonderful speech one million times over, those with nefarious intentions will continue to pooh-pooh it in order to justify their continued instigation of mayhem. Their real intention is to force the hand of Mr. President to negotiate power with them. It is as simple as that.

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“The fall guys are the ignorant, but patriotic compatriots on social media screaming their heads off and the robbers and hoodlums that are rampaging on the streets. Behind all these facade is a complex chess game of power with unseen hands,” he said.

On his part, Oshiomhole, a serving senator, in an interview on ARISE yesterday, said while the protests initially focused on legitimate concerns about hunger and economic hardship, they have been hijacked by individuals pushing for an overhaul of the government.

He said any push for regime change must adhere to constitutional processes and be pursued through elections.

The former APC national chairman also tackled a former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, who has been vocal in recent protests.

He said, “I did say that let nobody talk about peaceful protest. Whereas I recognise the right to peaceful protest, which I exploited, enjoyed and praticalised, I also said when you exercise that right to protest, you must also look at the demands and I have looked at it and my take away from it is a lot of these guys are only hiding under hunger. What they are actually asking for is regime change and I said you cannot legally, lawfully and peacefully demand regime change under the Nigerian constitution.

“On the day before the protest, I saw many people calling for peaceful protests, emphasising that the constitution guarantees the right to peaceful protest. I have led so many protests, both in the public and the private sector, national level.

“It must be clear to everybody that the only way to effect a change of government is to go through an election as provided for in the constitution. There is no room for regime change, no room for military takeover of government in Nigeria.

“The issue is not about if there is hunger. The issue is that the people used what the people can feel. At no time in my protest history did I demand regime change.

“I emphasised regime change because I know the logic. These people, I don’t know them. Who are those who want to take back Nigeria from Nigeria? The business of governance is not a tea party,” he said.