{"id":839253,"date":"2025-04-05T16:12:32","date_gmt":"2025-04-05T21:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/05\/atiku-slams-tinubu-over-rivers-state-emergency-calls-it-political-manipulation\/"},"modified":"2025-04-05T16:12:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T21:12:32","slug":"atiku-slams-tinubu-over-rivers-state-emergency-calls-it-political-manipulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/05\/atiku-slams-tinubu-over-rivers-state-emergency-calls-it-political-manipulation\/","title":{"rendered":"Atiku Slams Tinubu Over Rivers State Emergency, Calls It \u2018Political Manipulation\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

ABUJA, Nigeria \u2014 Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticised President Bola Tinubu for declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State<\/a>, describing the move as \u201cpolitical manipulation and outright bad faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement issued on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Atiku accused Tinubu of exacerbating the political crisis in the state and failing to prevent the escalation of violence.<\/p>\n

President Tinubu had earlier declared a state of emergency in Rivers State on Tuesday, citing persistent political instability.<\/p>\n

He also suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the state assembly, while appointing retired Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as the state\u2019s administrator.<\/p>\n

However, Atiku argued that the declaration reeks of political motives and undermines democracy.<\/p>\n

He blamed Tinubu for the ongoing crisis and recent pipeline explosions in the Niger Delta region, accusing the President of enabling chaos and instability.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone 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 \u2014 or calculated negligence \u2014 in preventing this escalation is nothing short of disgraceful,\u201d Atiku said.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cBeyond 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\u2019s desk. Tinubu cannot evade responsibility for the chaos his administration has either enabled or failed to prevent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atiku also highlighted the broader implications of the crisis for the Niger Delta region, noting that years of progress achieved under the late President Umaru Yar\u2019Adua\u2019s administration have been recklessly undone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an unforgivable failure that under Tinubu\u2019s watch, the Niger Delta has been thrown back into an era of violent unrest and instability \u2014 undoing the hard-won peace secured by the late President Umaru Yar\u2019Adua. Years of progress have been recklessly erased in pursuit of selfish political calculations,\u201d Atiku stated.<\/p>\n

The former Vice-President condemned the punishment of Rivers State residents as a means to settle political scores, calling it an assault on democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf 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\u2019s enablers in the federal government is nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Atiku\u2019s criticism comes amid growing concerns about the political crisis in Rivers State, which has seen escalating tensions between Governor Fubara and the state legislature.<\/p>\n

The declaration of a state of emergency and the suspension of elected officials have sparked widespread debate, with many stakeholders questioning the constitutionality of the President\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

The Nigerian Bar Association<\/a> (NBA) has also condemned the move<\/a>, urging the National Assembly to reject the suspension of Governor Fubara and other elected officials.<\/p>\n

The association warned that the declaration of emergency rule could set a dangerous precedent for the misuse of executive powers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Jackson Kachi | Senior News Editor
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABUJA, Nigeria \u2014 Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticised President Bola Tinubu for declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State, describing the move as \u201cpolitical manipulation and outright bad faith.\u201d In a statement issued on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Atiku accused Tinubu of exacerbating the political crisis in the state and failing to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":839254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110944,1308],"tags":[110943,5481],"class_list":{"0":"post-839253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atiku","8":"category-slams","9":"tag-atiku","10":"tag-slams"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}