Press Release
7 January 2011
Nigerians’ Right to Protest NOT Subject to any Court Order
Civil Society Organizations, under the aegis of BLUF (Building Leverage and Unity on Fuel Subsidy Struggle), call on Nigerians to disregard the alleged
National Industrial Court
order stopping NLC from embarking on strike action in reaction to the removal of fuel subsidy. We call upon Nigerians to stay away from work and come out en-masse on January 9 2012 to support the protest.
The protest embarked upon by Nigerians in reaction to the irresponsible removal of fuel subsidy is not only an NLC affair hence our surprise that government would procure this dubious order from a court that has no jurisdiction or business whatsoever in trying to prevent Nigerians from exercising their constitutional right to civil protest.
We call upon the Federal Government to heed the strident voices of Nigerians who want their government to immediately revert to the N65 price for PMS and take immediate steps to address the issues of corruption and wasteful financial practices. Government should also respect Nigerians’ rights to protest peacefully and should direct security agencies to exercise the highest level of restraint in the use of any force.
We encourage Nigerians not to give up and to use this opportunity to call upon the government to fix the years of irresponsible governance and insensitivity to the economic and social conditions of the nation.
We must call the Government’s BLUFF that they can deny us our rights!
Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim
Director, Centre for Democracy and Development
Ayodeji Ajayeoba
President, United Action for Democracy
Ayisha Osori
Director, Advocates for Change and Social Justice
Dr. Otive Igbuzor
Executive Director, Centre LSD
Dr. Hussaini Abdu
Country Director, Action Aid Nigeria
For and on Behalf of Nigeria
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