The leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele has warned Nigerians engaging in violent protests to desist forthwith.
This comes on the heels of the ongoing nationwide protests rocking some States of the federation amid the cash crunch.
In a statement signed by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, the prophet made it known that the protests are misplaced priorities against innocent citizens.
He stated that Nigerians are only fighting themselves instead of taking the fight to the government and those in charge of the policy.
He explained that destroying banks will only lead to pain for ordinary citizens because they won’t be able to operate for months and this will make it more difficult for people to get money even if the policy is reversed.
The man of God allayed fear about the election which will be coming up in eight days, noting that he isn’t convinced the election will hold looking at the situation of things in the country.
‘’Fighting ourselves does not make any sense. Godwin Emefiele and Buhari have their reasons for this policy, instead of fighting individuals, take them to court and if you are not satisfied, go to Abuja and fight them instead of destroying banks and properties. The banks are not to be blamed, it’s what they have that they can give, they can’t give you what they don’t have.’’
‘’If you destroy the bank, they won’t operate for months and you will still be affected. This is what some people want to destabilize the election. This is why I am not certain about the date for the election because how will the materials be distributed with the issues on ground? How will people come out to vote and even if it’s conducted, it will not be every part of the country and it will lead to rigging.’’
‘’I have seen that the date of the election isn’t certain, but the INEC is obstinate, I don’t know how we will conduct an election like this. The government should do all they can to circulate the approved notes if they want to call back the other notes.’’
Primate Ayodele asserted that the naira policy was a good decision taken at a wrong time because the government wanted to frustrate some groups of individuals but didn’t consider the masses while taking the decision.
‘’Some politicians are not happy, the government has taken the right decision but at the wrong time. They don’t have a sufficient plan. The UK changed money and it didn’t cause any problems. The government is using a fire brigade approach which will not allow peace. We are the problems of ourselves. The money change was never part of the government plans, it’s just an emergency plan the government wants to use to frustrate some group of politicians but they didn’t know it will backfire.’’
Furthermore, Primate Ayodele revealed that there will still be massive protests if the government doesn’t address the issue and that the APC will be at the receiving end at the election polls. He expressed pity for Tinubu whom he described as a good man, making it known that his chances will be greatly affected at the polls due to the crisis.
‘’There will still be massive protests if the government doesn’t work on this. This will affect the ruling party in the coming election because nobody will vote for that. I pity Tinubu, a good man, it’s unfortunate that this is coming back at him, this is part of the nemesis I warned him about then. I have been vindicated with my prophecies about the ruling party. If they had listened to my warning, all these would not have happened, it’s so sad. With this situation, I am afraid Tinubu will not make it.’’
Continuing, Primate Ayodele explained how he forewarned the Nigerians against all of these before President Buhari’s second term but they never listened. He noted that he has been vindicated because all he warned about have come to pass
‘’I have said earlier that the rich and the poor will suffer in Buhari’s second term, are we not experiencing it? I told you there will be food shortage, are we not seeing it now? I also said there will be food but there won’t be money to buy it, is that not happening now? I said some banks will be attacked, has that not happened? Now we will appreciate God for his warnings that we take with levity. I am not saying you should believe what I say but time will tell. All these are not new to me, I have known before now but nobody listened.’’