Planned Protest: SGF, NSA, Ministers in closed doors emergency meeting in Abuja

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, held a closed-door meeting on Wednesday with over 40 ministers from the President’s cabinet.

The meeting was convened to address the planned nationwide protest by youths against economic hardship.

Some of the Minister 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.

The meeting between the secretary to the government of the federation and ministers which held behind closed doors has now ended

Information Minister Idris, who briefed the media after 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.