In a recent interview with Arise Television, Sumner Sambo, the Politics Editor for Arise, shed light on the political dynamics and strategic missteps involving President Bola Tinubu's intervention in Rivers State crisis.
Sambo pointed out President Tinubu’s intense focus on converting lawmakers from the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). This preoccupation, according to Sambo, impaired Tinubu’s ability to maintain an unbiased, statesmanlike approach. “President Tinubu was very eager to harvest the lawmakers from the PDP to the APC, and that didn’t let him see clearly what was going wrong and how to play the role of a statesman, so he decided to take side,” Sambo remarked.
The crux of Sambo’s analysis lies in the political entanglements and agreements made at the state level, specifically between a governor and his political mentor. “The governor was unclear as to why he had to go into political agreement with his godfather and he was beginning to renege. When the governor was signing the agreements and the political alliances with Wike to emerge the governor, didn't he know there were repercussions?”
Moreover, Sambo emphasized the importance of the rule of law and institutional integrity in governance. “The institutions of the state must be allowed to function and where the governor goes wrong, the law must not fail to take its course,” he asserted.
Click the link below to watch the video clip. Start watching from 01:26 to 02:32