Declaration of state of emergency in Rivers reeks of political manipulation — Atiku

The declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State reeks of political manipulation and outright bad faith, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar declared Tuesday night.

In his immediate reaction to the proclamation of emergency rule in the crisis-ridden state, Atiku noted that:

He added, “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.”

According to the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 election, 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.

He said President Tinubu cannot evade responsibility for the chaos his administration has either enabled or failed to prevent.

READ ALSO:Five things to know about new Rivers sole administrator, Ibas

“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,” he said.

“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.”