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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly condemned President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, describing it as “political manipulation” and an attack on democracy.
In a statement released via X, Atiku accused Tinubu of deliberately allowing the crisis in Rivers to escalate, blaming his administration for the worsening political tensions in the state.
“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 stated.
He further linked the security breaches in the state, including the destruction of federal infrastructure, to what he termed Tinubu’s failure in governance.
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“Tinubu cannot evade responsibility for the chaos his administration has either enabled or failed to prevent.”
Atiku also accused the President of undoing the peace achieved in the Niger Delta under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, warning that the region was slipping back into an era of violent unrest.
“Years of progress have been recklessly erased in pursuit of selfish political calculations,” he said.
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He decried the state of emergency as a political tool to suppress the people of Rivers State amid tensions between the governor and the federal government.
“Punishing the people of Rivers State just to serve political gamesmanship is nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” Atiku concluded.