Protests Against Rising Cost Of Living Are Sponsored – Akpabio Says

Senate President Godswill Akpabio said there are sponsored protests taking place on the streets against the nation’s rising cost of living.

There have been isolated protests around the nation; the most recent one took place in Oyo state’s capital city of Ibadan on Monday.

In Niger, Kano, and Sokoto states, citizens were also taking to the streets to express their disapproval of the ongoing economic misery.

Since President Bola Tinubu removed fuel subsidy and harmonized the exchange rate in 2023, inflation in Nigeria has skyrocketed.

Speaking on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Tuesday, Akpabio said the protesters are not aware of the efforts made by the senate and the federal government to tackle the situation.

“You can see a lot of sponsored protests here and there but those people are not aware — most of those sponsored protesters are not aware of the kind of efforts made by this senate to tackle the situation together with the management team of the federal government,” he said.

“Unverified reports have it that state governments in the last few months have received additional N30 billion from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), outside their normal allocations from the federation account, to assist them in ameliorating the food situation.

So we believe that every state government should utilise the funds received towards ensuring that food is available.” [CONTINUE READING HERE]