Dumebi Kachikwu, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in 2023, has asked protesters to halt their demonstrations.
In a statement in Abuja on Sunday, Kachikwu said the protest needs to end because innocent people are being killed.
At least 14 people have reportedly lost their lives in the course of the demonstrations against Nigeria’s economic crisis.
Kachikwu said President Bola Tinubu should stop acting like he could fix the country by himself.
The former ADC presidential candidate said even the opposition is not providing solutions to the challenges confronting the country.
“We can’t continue killing ourselves. Our streets flow with the blood of the innocent. Over 19 killed in this scam of a protest, all for what? No child of any politician or big man was killed,” Kachikwu said.
“We as leaders need to come to a table of equity, justice and fairness to address the plight of the downtrodden immediately.
“It is not Tinubu’s problem alone and Tinubu must stop acting like he can do it all by himself. He must show leadership and reach out across party lines to get the best and the brightest to a solution roundtable.
“The job of the opposition now is to oppose and propose but what we are doing is only opposing without providing any solutions to our problems.
“Watch any advanced democracy and see how the opposition behaves. They have their stand and solution on all issues, and they will debate you night and day. But here, all we want to do is abuse Tinubu without offering any concrete solutions.
“We protested SARS arresting so called Yahoo boys and our youths on trumped up charges. Who are we deceiving? For how long will we keep on being mediocre about our civic duties?
“If you hate Tinubu so much, then pressure the national assembly to remove him or wait till the next elections. But heating up the polity for the last one year and attempting to remove a democratically elected government through the back door is no different from a coup.”
Kachikwu added that the federal government could maintain paying subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, but must ensure that it is free of fraud.
