Atiku in a statement in Tuesday stated that Tinubu has been a direct participant in the political turmoil in Rivers, either through blatant refusal to act or calculated negligence.
Former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticised the state of emergency declared in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, describing it as an act of political manipulation and bad faith.
The crisis in Rivers State has been building for months, with escalating political tensions fuelling unrest and insecurity.
The federal government’s decision to impose emergency rule has generated controversy, with Atiku asserting that Tinubu’s administration deliberately allowed the situation to deteriorate to justify an authoritarian response.
Atiku in a statement in Tuesday stated that Tinubu has been a direct participant in the political turmoil in Rivers, either through blatant refusal to act or calculated negligence.
He argued that the President’s failure to prevent the crisis from escalating is a disgraceful abdication of responsibility.
Beyond the political machinations, Atiku pointed to the alarming security breaches that led to the destruction of federal infrastructure in Rivers, stating that the responsibility falls squarely on Tinubu’s administration.
He maintained that the chaos in the state is either a product of government-enabled violence or an outright failure to prevent it.
The former presidential candidate lamented that under Tinubu’s leadership, the Niger Delta is regressing into an era of violent unrest, undoing the hard-earned peace secured during the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s tenure.
Atiku warned that years of progress have been recklessly discarded in the pursuit of selfish political interests.
According to him, if federal infrastructure in Rivers has been compromised, the President bears full responsibility.
He condemned the decision to impose emergency rule, arguing that it unfairly punishes the people of Rivers State while serving the political ambitions of Tinubu and his allies.
He described the move as an attack on democracy that must be strongly resisted.
The statement read, “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.
“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.”
According to Atiku, “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,” Atiku added.
