Wike’s Donation Stirs Controversy In Cross River

By Anietie Akpan, Guardian Newspaper

Former Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, Okoi Obono-Obla, has called on Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to stay clear of Cross River State’s politics.

Recall that Wike, on Wednesday night, hosted Cross River State Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidates for State and National Assembly elections and donated 25 new buses for their campaigns in the State.

The delegation, which included Chairmen of the party in various councils, was led by Cross River Governorship candidate, Senator Sandy Onor, who said: “Today is historic. Wike is a trailblazer for justice and equity. He speaks the truth endlessly. We thank Wike for being a good friend when Governor Ben Ayade defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Wike has defended us and protected us from intimidation and has made PDP a party to beat in Cross River. There is nothing that Wike is asking for that is personal. All he seeks is justice.”

But Obono-Obla, in a statement, alleged: “Rivers State is plotting to put Cross River State under its thumb. Cross River State cannot be a satellite colony of Rivers State. Rivers State was also created on May 27, 1967. Therefore, Cross River and Rivers State were born on the same day. They were part of the defunct Eastern Region of Nigeria.

“All the leaders of the Calabar Ogoja Rivers State Movement that championed the creation of a State out of the defunct Eastern Region were from the present Akwa Ibom and Cross River States.

“After 69 years, it is sacrilegious for politicians from Cross River State to troop to Rivers State to beg for political support, favors, and money to run elections here in our State. Our Governor must source money and materials to fund his election from our State.

“His allegiance must be to the good people of Cross River State, not to a local potentate in Port Harcourt.”

Reacting, a Chieftain of the PDP in the State, Mr. Gabe Odu Oji, in a statement, described Obono-Obla’s comments as mere “sophistry, presumption of a political neophyte! Nothing can be further from the truth! In politics, moral or material support can come from anybody or anywhere in Nigeria! In fact, in political brinkmanship and masterstroke, moral and material support can even come from an opposition party to an opposition party during an election!

“Such was the curious and paradoxical case when in the Presidential election of 2019, the then PDP Governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, funded the presidential election of Muhammadu Buhari of APC! So also did PDP governors, Sule Lamido of Jigawa State and Babaginda Aliyu of Niger State in 2015 finance the APC presidential election. In all the extant examples of the governors in question, did their States come under the thumb of Buhari?”