Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused President Bola Tinubu of plunging the Niger Delta back into violent unrest and instability following the political crisis in Rivers State.
READ ALSO: Tinubu declares state of emergency in Rivers, suspends Gov Fubara
Daily News 24 reports that Atiku, in a statement on X, condemned Tinubu’s decision to declare a state of emergency in Rivers, blaming him for failing to prevent the escalation of the crisis. He described the move as politically motivated and an attack on democracy.
His reaction followed Tinubu’s nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, where the president announced the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the state House of Assembly.
Tinubu, while justifying the emergency declaration, cited political instability and governance failure in the state.
Atiku, however, insisted that Tinubu is responsible for the crisis.
“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,” Atiku said.
He further accused Tinubu of reversing years of progress in the Niger Delta, arguing that the president should be held accountable for the recent pipeline bombings.
“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 @officialABAT’s enablers in the federal government is nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” he added.
