Akpabio: Protests against rising cost of living are sponsored

Our reporter/ As Nigerians grappling with harsh economic times, the senate president Godswill Akpabio on Tuesday claimed that the street protests against the rising cost of living in the country are sponsored.

There have been pockets of protests in different parts of the country, with the latest on Monday in Ibadan, capital city of Oyo state.

Akpabio, who made the claim while speaking on the floor of the senate, said the protesters are not aware of the efforts made by the senate and the federal government to tackle the situation.

“You can see a lot of sponsored protests here and there but those people are not aware — most of those sponsored protesters are not aware of the kind of efforts made by this senate to tackle the situation together with the management team of the federal government,” he said.

“Unverified reports have it that state governments in the last few months have received additional N30 billion from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), outside their normal allocations from the federation account, to assist them in ameliorating the food situation.

“So we believe that every state government should utilise the funds received towards ensuring that food is available.”

According to Akpabio, the national assembly will not approve anything that would not benefit the citizens.