As South-South stakeholders respond to President Bola Tinubu’s recent intervention to stop the impeachment threat against Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the political struggle in Rivers State continues to draw conflicting views.
While some praised the President’s efforts to bring peace back to the oil-rich state, others questioned the validity and justice of his action, particularly in light of mounting worries about Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, and his political domination.
In an interview with Vanguard, Joseph Ambakaderimo, the convener of the South-South Reawakening Group and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Community Committee of Oil and Gas Producing Areas of the Niger Delta States, described Tinubu as “a smart politician who knows what he wants and goes all out for it.”
Ambakaderimo urged Tinubu to “be very careful about those pushing him against the FCT Minister, Wike,” while applauding the President’s efforts to prevent Fubara from being impeached once more.
“Wike is to Tinubu what former President Obasanjo’s late Tony Anenih was to him,” he stated.
Additionally, Ambakaderimo asserted that Governor Fubara has the political clout to produce the kind of electoral outcomes Wike was able to secure for the APC in the national elections of 2023.
“Only Wike and Fubara, not the President or anybody else, can resolve their issues,” he declared. The President’s stance, in my opinion, is for the benefit of Rivers State and its citizens.
“Tinubu’s Behavior Is Not Presidential,” said Omenazu
Dr. Jackson Omenazu, the Chancellor of the International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights, on the other hand, criticized President Tinubu’s handling of the situation, calling it a lack of presidential grace.
He cautioned that a thorough understanding of Tinubu’s political style is necessary.
“If we follow the APC’s manifesto, two leaders in the same state are not allowed. What prevents Fubara from serving as Rivers State’s political leader? Does this occur in states under APC rule as well? “What?” asked Omenazu.
In his criticism of the President, he claimed that “Governor Fubara is highly subjugated” for not upholding equity and freedom.
The actions of Tinubu are not sufficiently presidential. He used to be a governor. Wike was a governor as well. He questioned, “Were they given the same treatment as they are giving Fubara today?”
Omenazu emphasized that the APC’s national chairman, not the president, is the only person with the constitutional authority to name a state’s political leader.
