onoh to peter obi: Tinubu can’t address what has been addressed

President Bola Tinubu’s former spokesman in the south east, Denge Josef Onoh, has responded to Mr Peter Obi who said that the broadcast of the President, on Sunday, failed to address critical issues that initially triggered the nationwide protests. The 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Obi, in his reaction to the President’s nation […]

President Bola Tinubu’s former spokesman in the south east, Denge Josef Onoh, has responded to Mr Peter Obi who said that the broadcast of the President, on Sunday, failed to address critical issues that initially triggered the nationwide protests.

The 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Obi, in his reaction to the President’s nation address said that President Tinubu failed to address the critical issues that brought about the protests, but focused on past discussions.

But Onoh in responding to Obi’s claims stated that the President cannot address already addressed demands, maintaining that demands such as food security, wage increase, among others were addressed by President Tinubu and asked Obi to go and verify his claims.

According to Onoh, the protesters in their new demands are seeking for scrapping of the 1999 constitution and its replacement with a people-made constitution, “And I ask, if the constitution is scrapped, what would Nigeria be governed with? These protesters demand is a call for an interim government, and possibly military rule. Once the constitution is suspended, Tinubu ceases to be president because his powers as president are legitimized by the constitution.”

Onoh recalled that the Senate on 14th Feb 2024 constituted a 45-member committee to review and amend Nigeria’s Constitution, with members of the amendment committee drawn from all states, geo-political zones, political parties with representation in the Senate, and asked that the protesters should make submissions to their respective Senators.

Onoh said: “There is nowhere in our constitution that gives President Tinubu or anyone the powers to scrap a part of any arm of government. This demand calls for military rule. The other demand to make legislative work part-time would require a constitutional amendment which I already said they can engage their various Senators that are members of the constitution amendment committee as President Tinubu does not have the constitutional powers to make that amendment by fiat.

“The minimum wage demand has been addressed by the president. When the two major Labour unions, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) came to a compromise pegging the new minimum wage at N70,000. The president’s approval followed wide consultative meetings with governors, the organised private sector, and the labour bureaucrats. Tinubu promised to ensure that wages would be reviewed every three years, rather than the once in five-year-old order. Clearly, this demand by the protesters has been addressed by the president. Those who work in the public sector enjoy a lot of allowances, and lucrative training abroad and travelling excluding their basic salary. Some government agencies pay various training allowances to their staff beyond their basic salary. The president cannot be responsible for paying states’ civil servants.

“To invest heavily in education and give students grants, not loans and compulsory education across Nigeria, currently Some public universities institute scholarships for exemplary students, Some universities take over the fees of students especially first class students and also offer automatic employment. Federal government agencies like TETFUND, NDDC and PTDF have consistently funded students within and outside Nigeria. The protesters may not know that agencies like UBEC have been tackling the issue of compulsory education, but even after FG releases money, some states fail to pay their counterpart funding. It’s up to each state now to decide how to deal with the problem of free and compulsory education on their own.

“On the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu, demilitarization of the southeast and release and compensation of EndSARS protesters; Although this demand has no relationship with the hunger protest, I wish to draw the attention of the protesters that Nnamdi Kanu’s case is in court, and on July 2024 Senators from the south-east geopolitical region prior to the protest held a closed-door meeting with Lateef Fagbemi, attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, over the release of Nnamdi Kanu. While governors from the south-east region resolved to meet President Bola Tinubu over the release of Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

“Led by Enyinnaya Abaribe, senator representing Abia south senatorial district, the Senators handed a letter to Fagbemi for onward transmission to “the presidency”. Earlier, about 50 members of the House of Representatives from various parts of the country, urged President Tinubu to free Nnamdi Kanu. Clearly this demand by the protesters has already been overtaken by events even before the protest. As for demilitarization of the southeast, I wish to draw the attention of the protesters that The South-East Governors Forum had since August 2023 resolved to deal decisively with perpetrators and sponsors of insecurity in the region individually and collectively in a declaration and communiqué issued at the end of its first meeting in Enugu. It’s important to note that the forum firmly resolved to fight insecurity decisively in the region in partnership with the Federal Government and other stakeholders. The governor added that the forum resolved to hold a security and economic summit on a date to be announced. They commended the security agencies for their cooperation so far and encouraged them not to relent. It’s clear this demand should be presented to the south east Governors and not the Federal government.”