Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described the declaration of a State of Emergency in Rivers State as reeking of political manipulation and an outright decision taken in bad faith.
President Bola Tinubu had, today, declared State of Emergency in Rivers, blaming the now suspended Governor Sim Fubara for the lingering political crisis in the state.
However, Atiku alleged in release personally signed by him that it was obvious that the president has been a vested partisan actor in the political turmoil engulfing Rivers.
He said the declaration by the president was an action taken to punish the people of Rivers State, just to serve the political gamesmanship between Governor Sim Fubara and those he described as enablers of Tinubu in the Federal Government.
Atiku further described the declaration of State of Emergency as nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms.
The PDP presidential aspirant in the 2023 elections further alleged that the “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.”
The former vice president stated that 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 Abubakar added.
