Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly opposed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State, describing it as a politically motivated move.
In a nationwide address on Tuesday night, Tinubu announced the emergency measure, citing escalating unrest in the oil-rich state.
According to the president, militants had attacked several oil pipelines, prompting urgent intervention.
As part of the directive, Tinubu suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, for six months.
He also dissolved the Rivers State House of Assembly and appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas as the administrator to oversee the state’s affairs during the period.
Reacting to the decision, Atiku released a personally signed statement condemning the move, calling it a deliberate political maneuver.
“The declaration of state of emergency in Rivers reeks of political manipulation and outright bad faith,” Atiku stated.
“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.
“Beyond the political scheming in Rivers, the brazen security breaches that led to the condemnable destruction of national infrastructure in the state land squarely on the President’s desk.
“Tinubu cannot evade responsibility for the chaos his administration has either enabled or failed to prevent.
“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 Umaru Yar’Adua. Years of progress have been recklessly erased in pursuit of selfish political calculations.
“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 concluded.
