Former governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, Tonye Princewill, has revealed why the intervention of President Bola Tinubu, in the Rivers State crisis failed.
There has been a rift between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike and the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
Despite efforts by prominent Nigerians to resolve the issues between Wike and his successor, the crisis seems not to end anytime soon.
Princewill, in an interview with The Nation, claimed that Tinubu’s intervention in the crisis failed because his approach was not constitutional and was one-sided.
Speaking on the President’s approach to the crisis, he said, “Simple, because it was not constitutional, it was too one-sided, and it did not have popular support. If he had consulted beforehand, he would have realized it.
“I believe he wanted to help and assumed all stakeholders present justified the action. In Rivers State, the people’s voice matters. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t feel a strong desire to speak all the time.
“I had to lay my father to rest, yes. So in his honour, I stayed away from Rivers politics. But if I felt something needed to be said, I would have said it. Here people are not afraid to speak truth to power. It’s not hard to feel the pulse of our people.”
He took the opportunity to charge Wike to allow the current Governor of Rivers State, Fubara rule with interference.
The former governorship candidate said, “In my dear Rivers State, we’ve gone past that. The support in either camp is across all ethnic lines. Wike enjoyed cross-cultural support when he was governor and now Governor Sim is enjoying even greater support across all lines, now that he’s on the seat.
“I’ve not been around and I have not spoken to you in the media for almost two years, so I must have missed a lot, but we have made it very clear. Leave our son to work, just like we left other ones before him. Rivers State is the treasure base of the nation.
“Do not play with the goose that lays the golden egg. If he has erred, it is a different thing. If he has broken the law, there are ways and means to deal with that. If you don’t want him in the future, allow him to finish his term.
“Because the silence we hear is the silence of the graveyard. Let sleeping dogs lie. We have witnessed many crises in Rivers State and we have now become experts at it.”
