Atiku accuses Tinubu of political manipulation over Rivers crisis, slams emergency rule
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, describing it as a politically motivated move aimed at consolidating power rather than addressing the root causes of the crisis.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Atiku accused Tinubu of being a direct participant in the state’s political crisis, either through deliberate inaction or calculated negligence.
He argued that the federal government’s decision to impose emergency rule is a tactical ploy to justify authoritarian control rather than a genuine effort to restore order.
Rivers State has witnessed rising political tensions in recent months, with clashes among rival factions fueling unrest and security concerns.
Atiku believes the crisis was intentionally allowed to escalate to provide the federal government with an excuse to impose emergency measures.
He criticized Tinubu for failing to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control, calling it a shameful abdication of responsibility.
He also blamed the administration for security lapses that led to the destruction of federal infrastructure in the state, arguing that such breaches reflect either government-enabled violence or an outright failure to prevent it.
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.
