According to the spokespersons of the two major political parties, the planned protests are within the confines of the law and should not be disrupted by the Nigerian Police.
Speaking to Thisday, the national publicity of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said there was nothing wrong in people holding peaceful protest under a democracy.
He said the APC was not opposed to any form of expression of opposing view point by anyone so far it is done in a peaceful and non-violent manner and did not constitute disruption of public peace.
His words: For us, it is about the constitution of Nigeria, Tuface or any other citizen of the country has the right to stage a peaceful protest, that is the position of our constitution.
We as a party will not be part of anything that will abridge or take away the right of citizens to protest, especially in a democracy.
We have as a party benefited greatly from citizens right to express their democratic rights and our being in government is not going to change that orientation to promote the liberties and right of citizen hold dessenting views.
Abdullahi added that the protests will be a form of feedback for the APC to do more in citizens engagement and enlightenment and also focus more on the promises the party made to Nigerians during the electioneering period.
I do not see it as anything that is antithetical to our democracy, he added.
On its part, the PDP described the reported ban of the protest as an undemocratic act which should be resisted.
The PDP spokesman, Dayo Adeyeye urged the protesters to defy any such order by the police, adding that stopping people for engaging in peacefully assembly is not only undemocratic but against the spirit and letters of the countrys constitution.
His words: It is illegal and very undemocratic, the people have the right to protest, the freedom of assembly and freedom to protest are two strong ingredients of a democracy.
In America, people have been protesting everywhere and nobody has made any effort to curtail it or to ban them or prevent them from holding.
People have the rights to peaceful assembly and people had the right to protest under the previous regimes of Presidents Goodluck Jonathan, Umaru Musa YarAdua and Olusegun Obasanjo, how could these people now want to stop peaceful protest.
These were the same people organising protests in those days against PDP governments.
This shows clearly that we are now under a dictatorial regime. It is an illegal ban and I will urge the organisers of the protest to go ahead with it and defy the police ban because it is wrong.
The protest rally is being planned to take place simultaneously in some major cities across the country, including Lagos state, Abuja and Asaba.
The Lagos state police commissioner, Fatai Owoseni on Wednesday, February 1, had said
Responding, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state and chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, said adding that Owoseni's stance as in variance with section 40 of the 1999 constitution, which provided that every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons.
Source (with photos): 2baba's Planned Protest Gets Endorsement From Apc, Pdp
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