Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has alleged that members of the National Assembly received bribes to ratify the state of emergency imposed on Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu.
In a video clip seen by Daily Sun, Obasanjo was having a conversation with House of Representatives member Ikenga Ugochinyere, who denied reports that lawmakers were paid $200,000 each to support the emergency rule.
“Nobody gave anyone $200,000. That is just what I want to correct,” Ugochinyere said.
However, the former president insisted that he had direct knowledge of the payments.
He said: “You can say anything. I heard it from the horse’s mouth. You can deny it, that is alright, but I heard it from those who got it and told me that they got it. If you didn’t get it, then maybe your case is different. Don’t tell me what I know. Most of your members who got it told me that they got it.”
This allegation followed an earlier denial by the Chairman of the House Committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mukhtar Betara, who dismissed claims that cash payments were made to lawmakers to secure support for the emergency declaration.
Investigative journalist Jaafar Jaafar alleged on X that Betara clarified the $5,000 given to each committee member was a “Sallah gesture” and not a bribe.
“The chairman of the House Committee on FCT, Mukhtar Betara, has clarified to me that he only shared $5,000 to each member of his committee as a ‘Sallah Gesture,’ not an inducement to support emergency rule in Rivers State,” Jaafar wrote.
