Senator Shehu Sani has condemned unwarranted attacks on the protesters who staged a protest to demand good governance across the country on Monday.
He said violence employed by security operatives had undermined the values and principles of democracy, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari-led government had subscribed to Machiavellian philosophy.
He stated this in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Monday.
He said attempts by any government to suppress the citizens from raising their voices against perceived injustice would endanger democracy and freedom.
Sani explained that Nigeria’s democracy is a product of the culture and history of protest and the ruling elites are the products and beneficiary of that culture of protest.
He expressed regret on the attitudes of the political class who he said had now resorted to undermining and crippling the democratic instruments that brought them to power.
He said, “It’s ironic that the very political class have now resorted to undermining and crippling the very democratic instruments they once so cherished.
“Protest is the pillar and the beam of democracy. The fear of revolution is the beginning of the revolution. A political class that called itself progressive should have no fear of revolution.”
