Former Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has strongly condemned President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State. In a statement, Atiku described the declaration as “reeking of political manipulation and outright bad faith.”

Atiku accused President Tinubu of being a “vested partisan actor” in the political turmoil in Rivers State, and criticized his refusal to prevent the escalation of the crisis. “Tinubu cannot evade responsibility for the chaos his administration has either enabled or failed to prevent,” Atiku said.

He also expressed concern that the declaration would punish the people of Rivers State, rather than addressing the root causes of the crisis. “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,” Atiku stated.

Atiku further lamented that the crisis has undone the hard-won peace secured by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, and has thrown the Niger Delta back into an era of violent unrest and instability.