“Allow Those in the Field to Play”: Arise TV’s Sumner Sambo Faults Datti Baba-Ahmed’s 2027 Remarks

ABUJA, Nigeria — The Director of Politics at Arise News, Sumner Sambo, has publicly criticized Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the 2023 Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, over recent political remarks concerning the upcoming 2027 presidential election.

Appearing on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Monday, September 7, 2026, Sambo advised Baba-Ahmed to exercise greater caution with his public statements and refrain from undermining active political figures currently preparing to challenge the ruling party.

“Disjointed” Statements on Democratic Process

Sambo’s critique followed controversial weekend comments by Baba-Ahmed, who suggested that President Bola Tinubu should prepare to vacate office in 2027 but argued that none of the prominent opposition contenders—including his former running mate Peter Obi and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar—possessed the required capacity to effectively lead Nigeria.

Sambo questioned the logic behind asking a sitting, democratically elected president to relinquish power outside established electoral mechanisms.

“I don’t know under a democracy what particular platform he would be using to actually ask a sitting president to hand over power to people who are not in the contest. We have a sitting president, there are contestants. So it beggars belief what exactly he was trying to aim at.” — Sumner Sambo

Core Issues Raised by Sumner Sambo

Theme	Summary of Criticism
Constitutional Process	Questioned how power can be transferred outside democratic electoral contests.
Respect for Candidates	Noted that disparaging active contenders like Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar denigrates politicians taking significant risks to challenge an incumbent.
Heightening Political Tension	Warned that overly aggressive political commentary risks exacerbating national political friction.
Personal Ambition Challenge	Asked why Baba-Ahmed has not thrown his own hat into the presidential ring if he deems existing candidates unfit.

Defense of Opposition Contenders

While acknowledging Baba-Ahmed’s constitutional right to political expression, Sambo emphasized that opposition figures risking their resources and political standing to challenge an incumbent administration deserve recognition rather than public dismissal.

“He has a right to actually make political comments. But I will just plead with him to be very careful because the statement he made actually was denigrating to all the great presidential candidates that we actually have.” — Sumner Sambo

Sambo concluded by challenging Baba-Ahmed directly on his own political trajectory, pointing out that if he believes the current crop of opposition leaders lacks vision, he should step forward as a presidential aspirant rather than remaining on the sidelines.