Navy Captain Christopher Osondu was appointed Military Administrator of Cross River State

Cross River State

Cross River State is a coastal state in southeastern Nigeria, bordering Cameroon to the east. Its capital is at Calabar, and it is named for the Cross River , which passes through the state...

, Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

  in August 1998 during the transitional regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar

Abdulsalami Abubakar

General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar is a Nigerian general who was President of Nigeria from June 9, 1998 until May 29, 1999. He succeeded Sani Abacha upon Abacha's death. It was during Abubakar's leadership that Nigeria adopted its new constitution on May 5, 1999, which provided for multiparty...

, handing over power to the elected civilian governor Donald Duke

Donald Duke

Donald Duke was the Governor of Cross River State, Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. He received LLB degree in 1982 from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria - Nigeria, the B.L in 1983 from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos and the L.L.M...

 in May 1999.
Shortly after, he was retired by the Federal Government, along with all other former military ministers, governors and administrators.

In November 2001, he was elected Vice Chairman (North) of the People's Democratic Party

People's Democratic Party (Nigeria)

The People's Democratic Party is a political party in Nigeria. Its policies generally lie towards the right wing of the political spectrum. It has won every single Presidential elections since 1999, namely: 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011, and is the dominant party in the Fourth Republic.-History:In...

 (PDP) in Abia State.
In December 2002 he left the PDP.
In the 2003 elections he was a senatorial candidate of the National Democratic Party

National Democratic Party (Nigeria)

The National Democratic Party is a progressive political party in Nigeria which was founded on 23 July 2001.At the last legislative elections, 12 April 2003, the party won 1.9 % of popular votes and 1 out of 360 seats in the House of Representatives and no seats in the Senate....

(NDP) in Abia North.