Governor Of Cross River, Liyel Imoke Undergoes Treatment For Chronic Kidney Disease In The US

Last week, there were rumors that Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State had passed away. However, SaharaReporters was able to determine that Mr. Imoke is in the US where he is receiving regular dialyses for a renal disease.

One source disclosed that Mr. Imoke is staying with relatives in the state of Maryland, near Washington, DC.

“Liyel [Imoke]’s kidneys are in bad condition and he’s undergoing regular dialyses,” said one of our sources.

Another source said the governor maybe undergoing surgery for kidney transplant since he has remained unreachable in the last 48 hours.

Governor Imoke has been out of Nigeria for several weeks after he disclosed that he needed to take time off to address a health condition. However, Mr. Imoke did not reveal that his health problem has to do with his kidneys and that he was proceeding to the US to receive monitoring and treatment.

One of our sources said that the ailing governor “has no immediate plans to return to Calabar,” the capital of Cross River State.

Mr. Imoke shot into national prominence when he headed a technical committee on the power sector during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Mr. Obasanjo had tasked the committee with ensuring that Nigerians began to enjoy regular, uninterrupted electricity supply. However, the Imoke committee and the Obasanjo administration squandered close to $16 billion without achieving any improvement in power supply.

Despite widespread criticism that dogged Mr. Imoke, President Obasanjo and the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) nominated him as the party’s governorship candidate for Cross River State.