The Presidential aide wrote, “Yesterday afternoon, I was called by an unknown number while working in my office . The caller asked me “Are you Okoi Obono-Obla”? I answered in the affirmative . I then asked the caller who are you? The caller then introduced himself. He said he was a Commissioner in Governor Ayade ‘s administration. He said he was directed by Governor Ayade to request my nomination of a contractor who will be awarded a contract to clean up drainages in Calabar South Local Goverrnment Area. He said the contract sum shall be Two Million Naira monthly. He said it is urgent, so I should urgently give him a name… I told the caller, I am was in a meeting, but would call back later. It was about 2pm ! Of course I never called back . But the caller called several times, but I never picked his calls again . Whenever he called, I would press the built in automatic button of my phone ” I am in a meeting” to reject his calls . He then sent a text message to me that I should call him whenever I am done with my meeting . I was really amused and disgusted. When I arrived home at about 8pm I met Paul Ifere and my wife . I told them the story . I then called my lawyer Chief Utum Eteng and also told him . I then wrote a terse text to the caller thus: “Sorry kindly I am not interested. Thanks “.The caller said he was the Commissioner of Environment . He was said he was Micheal Eraye. This is his number: 08036174101.”
But in a swift reaction, just before we went to press, Michael Eraye, the CRS Commissioner for Environment, told www.calitoown.com that, “…I don’t know Obono-Obla, I have never met him and for God sake, I did not call him with any offer for any contract. You know this is his style and it is unfortunate that he is employing this kind of tactics”. Pressed for information on whether he placed a call of any sorts to Obono-Obla, yesterday, Eraye emphatically said he did not.
Reactions are trailing this post. One Samuel Uchenna Okwara commented that, “this is likely a scam connected with a fraudster not related to Cross River state government. Don’t be swift to blame”, while Ugoji Christian advised thus; “my dear brother you have a huge national responsibility to discharge, why not concentrate. Some of this infantile and hard to substantiate stories puts a huge burden of integrity on your shoulder. Just my candid opinion”. Serial Ayade critic Ifere Paul, meanwhile insists, “they think they can infiltrate you with dutch offers. They want to use you as a conduit to drain the 11.3 Billion Naira they just got from federal government. They don’t know that you don’t reap where you never sow”
It does appear that in the days ahead, we may be able to ascertain where the truth lies
