… Gov’s Aide Alleges Cash-For-Support Deal By Lawmakers
A fresh scandal has hit the impeachment plot against Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, as his aide alleged on Thursday that lawmakers received ₦350m each as constituency project funds, even as a court moved to halt the impeachment process.
The governor’s Special Adviser on Strategy, Darlington Orji, made the allegation during an interview on The Morning Show on Arise Television, accusing members of the Rivers State House of Assembly of double standards over budgetary appropriations.
Orji said the lawmakers, who are spearheading the impeachment move against Fubara, had earlier collected the ₦350m each without protest, but later rejected a ₦100,000 end-of-year appreciation payment to lawmakers and civil servants on the grounds that it was not captured in the budget.
He claimed the ₦350m was disbursed during the tenure of the former Sole Administrator of the state, Ibok-Ete Ibas, after the signing of the Appropriation Act.
“Can you ask them, please, where did the ₦350m given to each of them for constituency projects come from? Why did they not reject it if it was not appropriated?” Orji queried.
The adviser said the lawmakers’ current insistence on strict budgetary compliance was a smokescreen, insisting that the crisis between the executive and the legislature was politically motivated.
“You cannot reject ₦100,000 on the grounds of appropriation and then keep quiet when ₦350m was collected by each member. That is hypocrisy,” he added.
The allegations come amid escalating tension between Governor Fubara and the majority of lawmakers in the Assembly, which has culminated in impeachment proceedings against the governor and his deputy, Ngozi Odu.
However, the impeachment process suffered a major setback on Friday as a High Court in Port Harcourt restrained the Chief Judge of Rivers State from receiving or acting on any impeachment notice against Fubara and Odu.
Justice Florence Fiberesima issued the interim order following two separate suits filed by the governor and his deputy, marked OYHC/7/CS/2026 and OYHC/6/CS/2026.
The court barred the Chief Judge from receiving, forwarding, considering or acting on any impeachment resolution or communication from the House of Assembly for the purpose of constituting a panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against the governor.
The judge also ordered that court processes could be served on the lawmakers by pasting them at the gate of the Rivers State House of Assembly and at the chambers of the Chief Judge.
The suits were adjourned to January 23, 2026, for hearing.
The Assembly had earlier accused Fubara of gross misconduct and requested the Chief Judge to set up a probe panel, a move widely seen as the climax of months of political warfare between the executive and the legislature.
But with the fresh bribery allegations and the court’s intervention, the impeachment plot has been thrown into fresh controversy, further deepening the political crisis in Rivers State.
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