Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, have held crucial meeting on insecurity and other challenges threatening mutual co-existence in the country.
But Wike in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, told the Emir that he was not in support of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF)’s endorsement of fresh withdrawal of fund by the Federal Government from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to fight insecurity.
The governor wondered what happened to the $1bn withdrawn from ECA in 2017 to fight Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East.
The governor said he would only support the move for fresh withdrawal if Rivers State would be given its 13 per cent share from the account.
He said: “Yesterday, I was told that the governors agreed that they will take money from Excess Crude to support military. What of the one they took before, the $1billion that they gave to the military?
“Now again, this one, I’ll tell my Attorney General; you will have to prepare, we will go to court. I will not support that one except they’ll give us our 13 percent first from that Excess Crude Account.”
Wike reminded the Emir how his late father and other leaders in their time worked hard in promoting love, peace and national unity among Nigerians.
He expressed regrets that current political and religious leaders were not building on such past successes.
He said they were rather reducing every relationship, appointment, policy and programme of government to political and religious considerations.
Wike insisted that Nigeria belongs to everybody and no section could assert itself over others adding that he had provided conducive environment to all ethnic groups in Rivers State to coexist.
He said: “It is important that where we are now, everybody, particularly traditional rulers, should know that they have major role to play in ensuring that peace reigns in this country.
“This is the first time in Nigeria when we have so much ethnic divide, so much religious divide. It has never happened like this before. After the civil war, people had seen Nigeria as one country. We have seen ourselves as the same people but what we are facing today is a different thing.
“We are not even talking about the issue of insecurity, but the issue of ethnicity, and religion which have taken centre stage in our life which is not supposed to be.”
The governor accused heads of security agencies, particularly the Inspection-General of Police of politicising security by posting Commissioners of Police to the State on the order of a politician in the ruling party.
In his remarks, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero said his visit to Rivers State was part of his fraternal tour to national leaders and traditional institution across the country.
The Emir urge Wike and other regional leaders to continue to ensure that the region remained a welcoming environment for all Nigerians.
He said Kano and Rivers faced similar challenges and urged political leaders to make the current challenges a bit more bearable for the common man.
He said: “We have therefore made it a point every time we meet with traditional or political leaders across the country to ask them to do all within their powers to make the challenges of today’s life a bit more bearable for the common man.”
He commended the governor for the giant strides recorded in all sectors of governance and urged other leaders to emulate him.
The Emir expressed his appreciation to Wike for the protective and fatherly role he had continued to play in turbulent times of the country’s history.
Addressing the governor, he said: “Your career path has granted you a broad national perspective and network that must be used to further knit fabric of national development into a modern state for the generations to come.”
