Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, describing it as politically motivated and a dangerous regression into violent unrest in the Niger Delta.
In a statement on Tuesday, Atiku accused Tinubu of deliberately allowing the crisis in Rivers to escalate, blaming his administration for enabling or failing to prevent the political turmoil that has gripped the state.
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“The declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State reeks of political manipulation and outright bad faith.
“Anyone paying attention to the unfolding crisis knows that Bola Tinubu has been a vested partisan actor in the political turmoil engulfing Rivers. His blatant refusal – or calculated negligence – in preventing this escalation is nothing short of disgraceful,” Atiku said.
The former vice president argued that the security breaches, including the recent destruction of national infrastructure in Rivers, are a direct consequence of Tinubu’s failure in governance.
He warned that the Niger Delta is slipping back into an era of violent instability, undoing the peace efforts made under former President Umaru Yar’Adua.
“It is an unforgivable failure that under Tinubu’s watch, the Niger Delta has been thrown back into an era of violent unrest and instability – undoing the hard-won peace secured by the late President Yar’Adua. Years of progress have been recklessly erased in pursuit of selfish political calculations,” Atiku stated.
He also rejected the justification for the state of emergency, insisting that it was a ploy to punish the people of Rivers State for a political crisis fueled by Tinubu’s allies.
“If federal infrastructure in Rivers has been compromised, the President bears full responsibility. Punishing the people of Rivers State just to serve the political gamesmanship between the governor and Tinubu’s enablers in the federal government is nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” he added.
Atiku’s statement follows Tinubu’s announcement suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and the Rivers State House of Assembly, while appointing Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) as an administrator to oversee the state for an initial six-month period.
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