Atiku Abubakar, Nigerian former Vice-President has criticised President Bola Tinubu for declaring a state of emergency in Rivers state.
In a statement issued on Tuesday evening, Abubakar said the “declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers state reeks of political manipulation and outright bad faith”.
The president had earlier on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Rivers following the persistent political crisis and instability in the state.
Tinubu also suspended the governor, his deputy and the members of the state assembly. He also nominated Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired vice admiral, as the administrator of Rivers state.
However, the former vice-president attributed the political crisis and recent pipeline explosions in the state to the president, noting that the Niger Delta region has slipped into a period of violent unrest and instability.
He said punishing the residents of the state merely to fuel the political rivalry between the governor and Tinubu’s allies constitutes a direct attack on democracy.
“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,” the statement reads.
“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 ad- ministration 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.”
Meanwhile, the national assembly said that they were consulted by the president before the sacking via suspension of democratic structures in Rivers state on Tuesday.
The announcement has sparked widespread debate over its constitutionality and motives, drawing sharp criticism from various quarters.
However, in a statement on Tuesday, House Spokesman Akin Rotimi Jr. asserted that the leadership of the National Assembly held a high-level meeting with President Tinubu and key security officials ahead of the declaration.
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