End Bad Governance: CDHR Identifies With The Right Of Citizens To Freely Express Their Views In A Democratic Society, Cautions Against Violent Protest

<h4>&NewLine;End Bad Governance<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reports that the position of the foremost human rights organisation in Nigeria&comma; the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights&comma; remains clear and focused on the planned protest schedule to hold in August to end bad governance in Nigeria&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This disclosure is contained in a statemet jointly signed by Comrade Debo Adeniran&comma; National President CDHR Nigeria and Comrade Idris Afees Olayinka&comma; National Publicity Secretary CDHR Nigeria&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The statement stated that in an emergency NEC meeting of the organisation on Tuesday&comma; the 30th of July&comma; CDHR cautions against violent protest but identifies with the constitutional rights of citizens to freely express their views in a democratic dispensation while given supports to some of the protest demands as far as end bad governance is concerned&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The NEC resolved as follows&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>1&period; CDHR identifies with some of the demands of the planned protest coming August&comma; although a few of it require institutional interventions while cautioning the protesters to be focused and do away with any form of vandalism and arsoning throughout the protest&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>2&period; CDHR identifies with some of the protest demands of End bad governance in Nigeria&period; The demands are true&comma; genuine&comma; and realistic&period; The government must&comma; as a matter of urgency&comma; attend to it&colon; inappropriate fuel subsidy removal&comma; hike electricity tariffs&comma; heavy taxes on formal and informal sector&comma; hike in tuition fees&comma; and hyper inflation among others&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>3&period; CDHR charged the Nigerian people to hold all elected office holders accountable&comma; and the government at all levels &lpar;state governors&comma; sentors&comma; the honourable members&comma; and local government chairmen&rpar; given them ultimatum to fix the country&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>4&period; CDHR charged all the security apparatus to be professional enough to curtail elements of destruction and violence if the protest is held as scheduled&period; They should not be the one to insight violence on peaceful protesters&period; Constitutionally&comma; people have rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly&comma; and as such&comma; they must be protected by the security apparatus&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>5&period; CDHR condemned all comments tagging the planned protest ethinc colouration as some of the demands of the planned protest affect all Nigerian masses&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>6&period; CDHR acknowledged recent measures by the federal government to restructure the country and to ease mass suffering&colon; breakthrough in local government autonomy and signing of new minimum wage in to law among others&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>NEC&comma; however&comma; direct all our state branches and units to take the above as the position of CDHR regarding the planned protest against end bad governance in Nigeria&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;