Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Edo State on Tuesday demanded the restoration of fuel subsidy, improved security, and abolition of bicameral legislature among other requests tabled before the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
The group which includes African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Talakawa Republic, Take it Back Movement and Faculty of Peace Organisation, during a rally to the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State Council in Benin City, said the removal of fuel subsidy, insecurity and floating of the naira have made life very difficult for Nigerians.
Speaking, the Coordinator of ‘Take it Back Movement’ in the state, Dr Lawal Haifz said the CSOs were demanding that government should restore fuel subsidy and improve on security to enable the farmers return to farm.
Haifz also bemoaned the free-fall of the naira and urged government to restore the hope of the common man.
According to him, “We are here to protest the current situation in Nigeria. People are really suffering. We demand the restoration of the fuel subsidy. Insecurity has made it impossible for our people to go to farm and that is why you can no longer buy foodstuffs.
“We don’t need the Senate and House of Representatives at the same time. Money spent on the two Houses can go a long way to take care of Nigeria needs. The so-called minimum wage cannot even buy a bag of rice. There is extreme hunger,” he said.
Also, speaking the convener of Faculty of Peace Organisation, Comrade Kelly Osunbor, added that the Nigerian political class were being wicked, querying the sources of money allegedly distributed to voters during the Edo State governorship election on September 21.
“They tell us that there is no money, where did they get the money shared to voters during the September 21 election came from? Just calculate the N10,000 to N20,000 distributed to voters, and they said there is no money. These guys are just being wicked. My father hoped for better Nigeria, he is dead now. He did not see a better Nigeria. Today, we are hoping for a better Nigeria.
“Government does not provide anything. We sink our own borehole, and the fuel God has given to us freely is what they are using to punish us. If a parasite goes into its host, it will never stop eating the host until it finishes it. The Nigerian political class is like a parasite.
Speaking on the electoral process, Osunbor expressed displeasure over the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS). “We have tried BVAS, it did not work. We have tried IReV, it did not work. We have tried Athahiru Jega, that one did not work,” he said.
The coalition moved round the Kings Square (Ring Road) to the NUJ Center in GRA chanting solidarity
songs while bearing placards with different inscriptions such as ‘Restore fuel subsidy’, ‘We are hungry,” ‘End insecurity,’ among others.
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