Former Senate President Ahmad Lawan warns of potential mass protests if the executive, legislative, and judicial branches fail to collaborate to address the high costs of food and electricity.
Lawan’s remarks came during a debate on a motion introduced by Senator Sunday Karimi, representing Kogi West, which focused on addressing “food insecurity.”
Lawan emphasized that the government must not ignore the struggles of Nigerians amidst the worsening economic crisis, urging collective action to mitigate the hardships faced by citizens.
“If we don’t take urgent actions on increased food prices and electricity tariffs, we will not like the actions we will see on the streets,” Lawan said.
“We cannot take the people for granted for too long.”
Earlier, the Kogi west senator said price of food staples have risen by over 300 percent, following the removal of subsidy on petrol.
“Insecurity in food-producing regions, bad roads, increase in the cost of transportation attributable to the removal of fuel subsidy and depreciation of the value of the naira, are possible factors that have contributed to the increase in prices of food items, household commodities,” he said.
“The greater percentage of the increase in prices of food items and consumables is not only due to these factors but to the zest of the merchants, traders, and retailers to make supernormal profits.”
The senate asked the relevant government ministries and agencies to tackle the problem.
The motion was adopted after it was put to a voice vote by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
