Governor Alex Otti says going ahead with the #EndBadGovernance protests will be illegal without the organisers obtaining a police permit.

Mr Otti stated this on Sunday when he hosted former Governor Peter Obi.

“First of all, for you to organise a protest, the law requires that you get approval from security forces, particularly the police,” said the Abia governor. “And somebody should take responsibility for getting that approval and if you don’t have the approval then it would be against the law for you to go out on the streets to protest.”

He added, “So my final word is that people should think about the implications of pouring out on the streets, restricting the movement of other people and possibly inflicting harm and more hardship on the people.”

Mr Otti’s claim that protesters must get a police permit before staging a protest does not reflect the stance of the Nigerian constitution. Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) protects the rights of Nigerians to protest without a police permit. 

On the issue of bad governance, Mr Otti suggested that the mismanagement of the country’s resources did not start with President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

“It would be very unfair to say things are not difficult now. Things are difficult. Hunger is real and that is true. But how do you solve the problem? The problem we found ourselves in in the country today is economic,” Mr Otti said. “Will I say that we are actually paying the price for bad governance that didn’t start today?”