President Bola Tinubu has said the sponsors of the planned nationwide protests against bad governance owing to the continued hike in the price of goods and economic hardship across the country do not love Nigeria.

President Tinubu who spoke on Thursday night at the Presidential Villa while receiving a delegation of Islamic leaders led by Sheikh Bala Lau said those championing the cause of the protests have alternative passports and hold meetings virtually across the world.

Speaking in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, Tinubu argued that protests, fuelled by anger and hate, could degenerate into violence and set the country backwards.

He said, “The sponsors of protests do not love our country. They have no love for the nation. They do not understand citizenship. They have alternative passports.

“They are in different parts of the world holding meetings virtually. We do not want to turn Nigeria into Sudan. We are talking about hunger, not burials. We have to be careful. We should be careful with premature politics; politics of hate, and anger.

“The internet has made it possible to hold meetings in artificial settings. They hold meetings and sponsor anger,” the President told the religious leaders.