Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, both of whom were co contestants as presidential candidates in the last presidential election in Nigeria have reacted to the state of emergency and suspension of elected government in Rivers State by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with Atiku accusing and describing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a vested partisan actor in the political turmoil engulfing Rivers State.

According to Atiku Abubakar: “The declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State reeks of political manipulation and outright bad faith.

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.

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 (President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s) enablers in the federal government is nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms”

Peter Obi said: “It is unfortunate that, 60 years after independence and nearly 30 years of our celebrated unbroken civil rule, our democracy is still marred by undemocratic practices and values.

A significant percentage of our elections are deeply flawed—manipulated to serve the interests of a select few rather than reflecting the true will of the people.

Governance at most levels does not reflect the genuine values and aspirations of the people because the welfare of the citizens is often neglected in practice.

Looking at the ongoing crisis in Rivers State, we see yet another glaring example of how our democracy and governmence is not serving it’s purpose, the welfare of the people of River State.

The disagreement is not about improving the measurable indices of development: education, healthcare, or lifting people out of poverty but rather for reasons that do not in any way benefit the people of Rivers State and Nigeria in general. 

I fully understand the impact of what is happening in Rivers State. The real losers are the people—their welfare and the future of the society their children will live in.

My respectful appeal to all those involved is to reconsider their positions and reflect on the grace God has bestowed upon them as leaders. They must think about the suffering people of Rivers State and work towards a better future for their children.

My commitment remains to continuously remember them in earnest prayers and to advocate for their well-being. I also appeal to well-meaning Nigerians and the Federal Government, in the spirit of true democracy and good governance, to use their offices to restore normalcy and bring an end to this crisis”.

We had reported that the Nigeria President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday evening, for the first time more than a decade in the history of the West Africa country, declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended for initial six months, the Governor, Siminalayi Fubara and his Deputy, Ngozi Odu, all elected members of the State House of Assembly, and appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas as Administrator to work with the existing laws of Rivers State with the members of the state Judiciary following the apparent personal political crisis between the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara and his former boss and the immediate past Governor of the state, Nyesom Wike who is currently the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT that was seen a few days ago in a viral video apparently making carless statements as a government official – statements capable of instigating a particular ethnic group against the government wherein the FCT Minister has said thus, that, Ijaw people are minority group in the South South and if their son, Fubara is impeached, nothing would happened, after the statements, Wike refused to apologize to the Ijaw people despite public outcry and condemnations, days after as confirmed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, some militants started destroying crude oil pipelines in Rivers State as media reports trends and indicated that Pro-Wike lawmakers may have concluded plans to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara.