The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has reportedly pledged N600 million to the Akwa Ibom State Government in support of the building of a hospital in the state.

The hospital project – Akwa Ibom State University Teaching Hospital – is located in Awa, Onna Local Government Area of the state.

Punch newspaper quoted Mr Wike’s media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, as saying that the governor made the pledge on Wednesday while performing a groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital project.

The hospital project is a partnership between the Akwa Ibom Government and Bua Group which announced an initial support of N2.5 billion for the project, the Akwa Ibom State Government said in a statement.

The oil-rich Rivers State shares a boundary with Akwa Ibom, another state that is also rich in petroleum oil. Both states are ruled by the Peoples Democratic Party.

Mr Wike in January made a similar pledge of N500 million towards the rebuilding of a market destroyed by fire in Sokoto State, Nigeria’s North-west region.

The pledge had sparked controversy because of a lingering dispute over the non-payment of pensions and gratuity to thousands of retired civil servants in Rivers State.

The Chairperson of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners in the state, Collins Nwankwo, last December, threatened to lead his members into the street for a protest against the state government over the unpaid pensions, according to a report by Punch newspaper.

Mr Nwankwo said the pensioners had made several pleas to Mr Wike, and that the governor was just insensitive to their plight.