Tension Builds As #EndBadGovernance Movement Declares Mass Protests For Democracy Day

The #EndBadGovernance movement has unveiled plans to launch nationwide protests on June 12, targeting all 36 states in a bold demonstration against the current administration’s economic policies.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos on Thursday, Hassan Soweto, a key figure in the movement, said the protests aim to reflect the frustration and suffering experienced by ordinary Nigerians due to the fallout of recent government reforms.

According to Soweto, the economic measures implemented under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership — particularly the removal of the fuel subsidy and the unification of the naira exchange rate — have plunged millions into poverty and intensified nationwide hardship.

“The elimination of oil subsidies and devaluation of the naira have strangled the economy. These policies have brought untold pain and made life unbearable for the masses. In truth, the last two years have been a disaster for ordinary Nigerians,” he declared.

He also condemned the administration’s “anti-poor” neoliberal agenda, accusing it of destroying livelihoods and widening inequality at a scale never seen before.

Beyond the economic woes, Soweto raised alarm over what he termed the erosion of democratic rights, alleging that the Tinubu administration has shrunk civic space and suppressed fundamental freedoms, drawing parallels with authoritarian rule.

“Nigerians today live like captives in their own country. Freedoms we fought for under military rule are being stripped away. The civic space is suffocating,” he lamented.

Soweto called on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Moshood Jimoh, to allow the protests to proceed peacefully and uphold citizens’ constitutional rights to assembly and expression.