Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has issued a strong statement condemning the recent declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, characterizing it as an act of political manipulation and bad faith.
Abubakar asserts that President Bola Tinubu’s involvement in the political turmoil in Rivers is clear, accusing him of both “blatant refusal” and “calculated negligence” in preventing the escalating crisis. He expressed disappointment at the President’s failure to address the ongoing issues, calling it “disgraceful.”
Highlighting the situation in Rivers, Abubakar noted, “The brazen security breaches that led to the condemnable destruction of national infrastructure in the state land squarely on the President’s desk.” He emphasized that Tinubu cannot evade accountability for the chaos that his administration has either enabled or neglected to prevent.
Abubakar lamented the regression of the Niger Delta into “an era of violent unrest and instability” under Tinubu’s leadership, a setback that he claims undoes the progress made during the tenure of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. “Years of progress have been recklessly erased in pursuit of selfish political calculations,” he stated.
The former Vice President further condemned the political gamesmanship between the governor of Rivers State and Tinubu’s associates in the federal government, asserting that punishing the people of Rivers is “nothing less than an assault on democracy” and must be condemned in the strongest terms.
