SGF George Akume
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume; and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; on Wednesday, met with ministers over a planned nationwide protest against economic hardship by youths.
The meeting was convened behind closed doors and has all the over 40 ministers in the President’s cabinet in attendance.
Some of the Ministers spotted were Nyesom Wike (FCT), Yusuf Tuggar (Foreign Affairs), Zephaniah Jisalo (Special Duties), Tahir Mamman (Education), and Abubakar Bagudu (Budget and Planning).
Others include Wale Edun (Finance), Mohammed Idris (Information), Bello Matawalle (Defence), and David Umahi (Works), amongst others.
Information Minister Idris, who briefed the media after the meeting, pleaded with Nigerians to give the government more time to address the economic challenges in the country.
Idris said there was no need for the planned protest and assured youths that the government has been engaging all concerned to resolve the issues in the interest of the country.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday appealed to Nigerians to shelve the planned ‘EndBadGovernance’ protest slated for next month.
The protest against economic hardship, which is gaining traction on social media, has been scheduled to be held across all states of the Federation as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in August. The organisers of the protest have been faceless.
Prices of food and basic commodities have gone through the roof in the last months, as Nigerians battle one of the country’s worst inflation and economic crisis sparked by the government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows.
