‘Partisan actor’: Atiku slams Tinubu over state of emergency in Rivers

State of emergency, Reform bills, Loans, Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu.

Atiku said the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, following a political crisis in the state, reeks of political manipulation and outright bad faith.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election described the state of emergency in Rivers State as a punishment to the people of the state.

He said this in a statement on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

Atiku stated: “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 declares Emergency Rule in Rivers, appoints Admiral Ibas as Administrator

“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.”

The Star