Resume or Resign: Nigerians protest against Buhari, say he’s holding the country to ransom

The ‘resume or resign’ protest continued on Wednesday with the protesters accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of holding the nation to ransom by his prolong absence.

They said Acting President Yemi Osinbajo had been unable to take concrete decisions that could move the nation forward.

The group said Osinbajo had been unable to allocate portfolios to recently sworn in ministers despite the transmission of power to him, pointing out that such proved that the nation had become stagnated by Buhari’s absence.

The protesters, who held another sit-in at the Unity Fountain, Maitama, Abuja, under the watch of policemen, stressed that the President was not greater than the country.

The sit in held 24 hours after the coalition members were attacked by policemen with water cannons and tear gas canisters.

The protesters had organised a sit-in at the gate of the presidential Villa and the Unity Fountain in the nation’s capital on Monday and Tuesday.

On Tuesday, they were attacked and dispersed by the police, who also used water cannons and tear gas on them.

Ariyo Atoye of the Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy said Buhari was being kept in power by a cabal that wanted to continue using his name to loot the national treasury.

“The cabal wants him (Buhari) to continue in power so they can loot the treasury. They said power has fully been transmitted to Osinbajo, but he could not allocate portfolio to ministers,” he said.

A member of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, Aisha Yesufu, criticised the Tuesday police harassment of the protesters, noting that the security operatives should be deployed in the North-East to fight Boko Haram insurgents rather than assaulting harmless youths.

She said the nation must move forward with or without Buhari, stressing that the country could not afford to be held down.

Yesufu called on Nigerians to join the ‘resume or resign protests’ to compel the government to do the right thing.

She said, “Buhari is not greater than Nigeria and he cannot continue to hold the nation to ransom because he is sick. I once said he should resign and allow another person to take over. It is not as if we hate him, we love him and we pray for his quick recovery. It is not about a person, it is about the country; our mumu don do.”