By Augustine Akhilomen

A former spokesperson for the Atiku Campaign Organization in the 2023 Presidential election, Daniel Bwala, believes the August 1 planned nationwide protest against President Bola Tinubu may have been politically motivated and involve foreign interests.

Bwala made this known on Wednesday after meeting with Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

He pointed out that while Nigerians have the constitutional right to protest, the current planned demonstrations could potentially turn violent.

Bwala also implored Nigerians to give the President more time to actualise his goals for the country as the Number 1 citizen was not oblivious to the economic hardship.

“I honestly believe that that there is to a large extent the element of politics and my belief that it even transcends the country there.

“There would have been foreign interest but taking advantage of the poor political climate because of the fact of hunger and suffering. We know that everybody in Nigeria acknowledges that there is suffering and the suffering did not start last year.

“We’ve been dealing with that issue, you know of suffering, you know, lack of employment, we’re talking about enterpreneurship, virtually every aspect of the economy and security is what we have always been pushing the envelope and see how we can attain a better place.

“But suddenly, the conversation, if you see the mainstream and social media is all about, they want to bring the government down, President Bola Tinubu must resign.

“Once you hear that kind of talk and language, then you don’t need somebody to interpret that there is a political connotation. You must be aware that people have been holding meetings saying they want to unseat the President.

“By our Constitution. He has four years and it’s renewable for another term or four years. And he’s doing everything possible. In these four years to deliver on the promise to the Nigerian people, the trajectory are going, some of you who are knowledgeable in economics, you would have seen as the data are coming in and some of the indices, it shows that there is a redirection that is going on.

“There is no reform that is easy. Go to Brazil, any part of the world, if you’re going to do reform, it is not going to be easy.

“It means that all of us will have to readjust, but the government’s role when you are initiating reform is to bring about intervention, which is what the President is doing, like the release of truckloads of food.

“He even committed to helping the organized private sector to meet up with the minimum wage. So this is my immediate reaction to the question.