The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said street protests against the rising cost of living in the country are sponsored.
Mr Akpabio, who stated this on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, said the protesters are not aware of the efforts by the legislative arm and the federal government to tackle the situation.
“You can see a lot of sponsored protests here and there, but most of those sponsored protesters are not aware of the kind of efforts made by this Senate to tackle the situation together with the management team of the federal government,” he said.
“Unverified reports have it that state governments in the last few months have received additional N30 billion from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), outside their normal allocations from the federation account, to assist them in ameliorating the food situation.
“So, we believe that every state government should utilise the funds received towards ensuring that food is available.”
He also said the National Assembly would not approve anything that would not benefit the citizens.
But reacting to his comment, some Nigerians blasted the Senate President for being insensitive and making condescending comments.
The convener of Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju, said in a post on his Facebook page that, “Akpabio is delusional and living in a bubble of corruption. He does not even believe people are suffering because of the comfort of corruption”.
Another user on the X platform, @DejiAdesogan, wrote, “Senate President Goodswill Akpabio has said the most protests against high cost of living are sponsored. SP need to undergone crisis communication course.
@Morris_Monye, said: “Akpabio does not really know what is going on with the masses. Not in touch with reality on ground. Detached.
Also commenting, another user, @elkrossmedia, said: “Akpabio really said the protests against starvation by the people is sponsored. Bruhhhh! Didn’t I tell you the only thing these guys there do is “those in support say ayyyy, does not support sag nayyy. The ays have it. GBAM!”
