Former Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Political Matters in the Office of the Vice President, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, has cautioned President Bola Tinubu against continuation of emergency rule in Rivers State, urging the president to rethink the decision.
Ojudu gave the charge in a statement he issued on Tuesday night in reaction to the declaration by President Tinubu of State of Emergency in the state.
In the statement, titled: ‘Back to Ground Zero: Who Advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Do This?’, Ojudu noted that the emergency rule will rewind the security stability in the Niger Delta region with devastating damages on the economy.
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He added that whosever advised the president to toe this path was not the administration’s friend.
“If this is true, then I must ask: Who advised the President to take this course of action? Whoever it is, they are certainly not a friend of his administration, nor do they have the best interests of Nigeria at heart.
‘How could the President willingly walk into a raging inferno with his eyes wide open? No, no, no… this must be the work of fifth columnists. The Tinubu I once knew would not have made such a reckless and unnecessary decision,” the former Ekiti Central Senator said.
Ojudu further noted that the political dispute in Rivers State only required a simple solution. “Call the two gladiators, sit them down, and read them the riot act. One of them, after all, is your own appointee. What will it benefit you, Mr. President, to keep Wike and lose the Nigerian economy?”, Ojudu asked.
He asked if President Tinubu realised that the Niger Delta crisis twice pushed Nigeria into recession under President Buhari.
“Has he been informed that at one point, Nigeria’s oil production collapsed to below 400,000 barrels per day, down from 2.5 million barrels per day? That catastrophic drop in production was a direct result of political mismanagement and conflict in the region.
“It took years of painstaking effort and immense risks to stabilise the region, stop the sabotage of oil infrastructure, and restore some level of production. I should know—I was part of that difficult and excruciating process,” he stated.
Ojudu emphasised that if the situation escalates, the nation risks another shutdown of vital oil production facilities. “We risk renewed pipeline sabotage, illegal oil bunkering, and militant activities. We risk another economic nosedive—at a time when Nigeria can least afford it.
‘The global oil market is unforgiving. Investors do not wait for internal political conflicts to be resolved. They simply take their capital elsewhere.
“Mr. President, this is not just about Rivers State. It is about Nigeria’s economic survival.”
Reminding that the prevailing security situations in the country required the focus of the Nigerian soldiers, the ex-presidential adviser wondered the rationale for another military engagement. “While we waste energy escalating political battles in Rivers State, thousands of Nigerian soldiers are still fighting for their lives—and for the nation’s survival—against insurgents, bandits, and kidnappers in the North East, North West, and North Central.”
He noted these as the real emergencies and crises demanding decisive leadership.
“The men and women of our armed forces are stretched thin, battling terrorists and criminal networks daily. They do not need yet another crisis to divert resources and attention.
“Nigeria cannot afford to be fighting on multiple fronts—politically, economically, and militarily. Mr. President, do not open a new war front in Rivers State while real wars are still raging elsewhere.
“This portends disaster—for your administration, for the economy, and for the nation.
A state of emergency is not a strategy—it is an admission of failure. There are far more effective, far less destructive ways to handle this situation.
“I urge you, Mr. President, to rethink this decision before irreparable damage is done,” Senator Ojudu stated.
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