Opposition groups call protests against Obasanjo

Opposition groups in Nigeria have called protest marches on Monday to demand the resignation of President Olusegun Obasanjo in defiance of police warnings that their protest plans are illegal. “You can no longer use elections as a means of change because they’ve been so blatantly rigged using the security agencies that that option has been completely eliminated,” Balarabe Musa, leader of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), told IRIN. “We’re going to assemble to make our case and demands. What happens next depends on the government,” he said. The CNPP groups together 18 opposition political parties and plans to take to the streets of the federal capital, Abuja. At the same time in the southern commercial capital of Lagos, the United Action for Democracy (UAD) - a coalition of 26 human rights and pro-democracy groups - has scheduled simultaneous street protests. Both groups accuse Obasanjo’s government of rigging elections organised under his rule and failing to meet the expectations of good government by Nigerians. Their protests will demand that Obasanjo quits power and hands over to a national unity government that will work out a new constitutional order for the country of 126 million people, they said. Musa told IRIN that apart from their complaints over the elections, the protests had become imperative because of worsening poverty, insecurity, corruption and the collapse of public services under Obasanjo. In response to the threat of a police ban on the march, Musa insisted it was the constitutional right of Nigerians to protest against bad government without requiring the authorisation of the police. He dismissed police warnings against the protest. Chima Ubani spokesman of UAD said the police ban on protests was reminiscent of the military dictatorships that ruled Nigeria for 15 years until Obasanjo’s election in 1999. “The ban will not deter us, instead it will fuel our resolve,” Ubani told IRIN. “The opposition has no choice but to confront this government through popular street action.” Police spokesman Chris Olakpe told IRIN the constitutional provisions for free assembly do not detract from powers granted the police under the Public Order Act. “There’s nowhere in the world where freedom is absolute,” Olakpe said. “Any assembly without police permit is illegal and will not be allowed,” he said.