Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike is unhappy with companies that seek publicity in the course of supporting the state in the fight against the dreaded coronavirus pandemic, vowing “I won’t collect a loan to fight.”
Addressing the press on the COVID-19 update on Friday, Wike, however, said “There is a loan some governors are collecting, but I won’t collect a loan to fight coronavirus. Others can collect but not us.”
The governor was shocked when a senior bank official telephoned and informed him that he has opened an account for COVID-19 and credited N28 million in his bank for the governor to access.
“How can someone open an account in his bank and put money for me to use in the coronavirus fight? Why did he not ask me ‘I have this amount of money, what is your bank account number so that I can lodge for the COVID-19 fight in your state? I am not that state you will open an account and call me to access. It was an insult.
“I am not a governor you will credit N28 million and ask me to come to your bank. Then you will bring the cheque and ask me to stand before television for publicity. I have integrity. I am not a beggar.”
He pledged to publish names of companies that will support the state during this trying time. “We will publish the names of the companies that support fighting coronavirus. You cannot make money in Rivers State, but you do not support us.
“You will go to your state and donate a huge sum but you will contribute a paltry to where you are making money. If you do not support us now, then you want us to die. We will not die but survive this pandemic. The living are hungry, but the dead are not. You can support us in cash or in kind,” Wike noted.
