Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation, has accused President Bola Tinubu of using the declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State as a strategy to intimidate Governors ahead of his re-election in 2027.
Gatekeepers News reports that Amaechi made the accusation during an interview with DW Africa on Friday.
According to Amaechi; the president’s move has sown fear in Governors “that if you are not careful, the president will remove you”.
He added that Fubara has “no security responsibility” over the Rivers crisis and that he is being punished for an offence he “did not commit.”
Amaechi said, “ He is between the president and the FCT minister. The president wants a power grab. They want to frighten governors who may not support them in 2027. So, there is a rumour everywhere that if you are not careful, the president will remove you.”
“If the president said it is because of insecurity, because they blew the pipeline, what about part of the country where there is insecurity? Is the president saying they should impose emergency rule on him too? They can’t because he is a democratically elected president. Nobody can impose an emergency rule on him because there is serious insecurity in the north-east, north-west — even in south-east and south-west.”
“Rivers governor has no security responsibility; it rests squarely on the president. So why punish a man who did not commit an offence?”
Amaechi further urged Rivers residents to “resist the president”, adding that it should be done by democratic protests.
