“Tinubu is partisan and wants control” – Atiku condemns state of emergency in Rivers

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

Atiku described the decision as a politically motivated move designed to punish perceived opponents.

READ ALSO: Tinubu declares state of emergency in Rivers State, suspends Gov, Assembly members

Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all members of the State House of Assembly for six months, citing escalating political tensions and security threats, including the bombing of an oil facility in the state.

The president, however, retained the state judiciary and appointed Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas, a retired rear admiral, as the state administrator.

But Abubakar, in a statement shortly after the president’s broadcast, rejected Tinubu’s justification for the action.

He said the president had been a partisan actor in the political feud between Fubara and the Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike and had allowed the crisis to fester for political gain.

He also blamed the president for security failure that led to the destruction of oil facilities in the state.

READ ALSO: Tinubu deploys armed security personnel to take over Rivers gov’t house

“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 cannot evade responsibility for the chaos his administration has either enabled or failed to prevent,” he wrote on his social media platforms.

Abubakar further accused Tinubu of weaponising the state of emergency to assert control over Rivers, warning that the move could set a dangerous precedent for democracy.

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