The Declaration Of A State Of Emergency In Rivers State Reeks Of Political Manipulation And Outright Bad Faith - Atiku

Atiku Abubakar

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed displeasure over President Bola Tinubu's declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP decribed the move as “political manipulation and outright bad faith.”

Atiku criticized Tinubu for being a “vested partisan actor” in the crisis and accused him of negligence in preventing its escalation.

Atiku said the security breaches and destruction of national infrastructure in Rivers are directly the President’s responsibility.

He argued that Tinubu’s administration has enabled chaos in the Niger Delta, reversing years of progress achieved under late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

He wrote: ''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.

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@officialABAT’s enablers in the federal government is nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms. -AA''.