Minister of works, David Umahi, Gov. Francis Nwifuru and former Senate president Pius Anyim, among others, have insisted that Ebonyi will not participate in the Aug.1 nationwide hunger protest.

The political stakeholders made the declaration on Wednesday in Abakaliki during the Ebonyi youth and stakeholders interactive meeting on the planned protest.

Mr Umahi, in his remarks, said that some people engaged in protests ignorantly but Ebonyi had always been and would continue to be an exception.

“The governor’s speech and intelligence reports from security agencies suggest that no one is planning any protest in the state.

“President Bola Tinubu deserves our support because he has taken critical decisions to reset the country although most of the challenges did not emanate from his administration.

“Nigerians are experiencing some hard conditions presently but we must all realise that such is a global problem,” he said.

The minister remarked that all demands which necessitated the protest had been enunciated by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) through a peaceful protest.

“No one stopped them from the protest and the president engaged them through various committees and finally by himself.

“The president is tackling the demands and we must realise that whenever there is protest, the economy of such place suffers,” he said.

He noted that the #ENDSARS protests of 2020 did not succeed in the state when he was the governor, as the people resisted such.

“The protest took place for a day and was not impactful though some people took advantage of it to destroy our ornamental lights and other facilities.

“The governors of the South-East, our traditional rulers and Ohaneze socio-cultural association are the mouthpiece of the zone and not former Anambra Governor, Peter Obi,” he said.

Mr Nwifuru urged the citizens, especially the youths, to shun the protest because his administration had done much to meet their expectations and ensure the rapid development of the state.

Mr Nwifuru, who reeled his government’s youth empowerment policies, pledged to continue listening to their yearnings as they gave him the mandate and support to be in governance.

“We should support President Bola Tinubu, who took the bold decision of removing the fuel subsidy which was a terrible scam from the industry’s stakeholders.

“They are the ones fighting back but with our full support, the president will defeat them,” he said.

Mr Anyim said that Ebonyi would not support the protest because of the wanton destruction of critical facilities during such occasions.

“The first target of the protesters will be this magnificence ecumenical centre and we don’t want to lose any of our facilities,” he said.

Various stakeholders, from youth to labour unions, denounced the protest, expressing their support to Mr Tinubu and Mr Nwifuru.

(NAN)