Rivers Govt official confirms N350m, SUVs to pro-Wike lawmakers during emergency rule time

…Sharing formula for the N350 per lawmaker raises for scandals as Gov Fubara aide says N10.5bn did not get to the people

Financial scandals seem to trail the real motives behind the impeachment saga in Rivers State. While a Rivers State government official says the money collected did not go to help the masses, noises have arisen over how the funds may have been shared out.

Now, an official of the Rivers State government has confirmed the raging claims that N350m was given to 26 lawmakers loyal to the FCT Minister, out of 30 lawmakers lawmakers in the House at the moment.

Darlington Orji, the Political Adviser to Gov Sim Fubara, confirmed to BusinessDay on an early morning telephone interview today Wednesday, January 21, 2026, that such amount was actually shared out toward the end of the state of emergency rule to 26 lawmakers.

He insisted the money was never collected for benefit of the masses of the state. He also confirmed that each lawmaker got a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) to go with the collected amount.

He made it clear that the Rivers State House of Assembly leadership has not released the funds nor the vehicles to the pro-Fubara lawmakers.

On whether it was lawful or proper for suspended lawmakers to write official letters and officially access government funds when serving suspension, while others on suspension were not permitted to transact business, the Political Adviser said he did not think it was proper.

He said there is no evidence that the funds were used for the benefit of the people as was mentioned in the letter requesting the fund, such as building of health centres, civic centres, roads, etc. He however wondered why lawmakers that collected such sums would turn back soon after to demand for their ‘interest’ in the 2025 budget, let alone launching an impeachment project on such grievances.

He confirmed that Gov Fubara had pleaded that nobody between the Executive and the Legislature got any ‘interest’ in the 2025 revised budget, allegedly asking the lawmakers to wait till 2026 budget. Orji said this is the crux of the latest impeachment push by the pro-Wike lawmakers.

The Adviser promised to reveal more and provide evidence of the N350m to each of the 26 lawmakers should the chairman of the committee on information deny it. He also challenged the lawmakers to point to any meaningful pieces of legislation they have crafted and approved since May 2023 other than serial impeachment motions and dragging for money with the Executive.

Read also: Aroma of power: Fubara, Wike, and the ‘beasts at Ephesus’

He described the latest impeachment drive as a failed project, saying the people of the state would not allow such legislative style and overreach to continue forever.

The Martin Amawehule (Speaker) group has not responded to the N350m scandal several days after it came to the limelight especially since the alleged documents were published by SaharaReports.

Orji had earlier in a television interview hinted at the sharing of money, and this was followed with the splashing of the purported documents in the online publication.

The online report said the application, approval and payments totaling approximately ₦10.5 billion were approved and released on September 12, 2025, according to financial records they claimed to have seen.

The report claimed that none of the projects listed in the claims documents has been executed.

The report claimed that investigations indicated that most of the companies nominated by the lawmakers to execute the projects “were either inactive, dormant, or suspected shell (fake) companies.”

Giving further details, the report said a memo signed by a special adviser on Works and addressed to the then Sole Administrator requested for N10.5bn as ‘constituency project funds for 30 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly’ was written and approved same day, September 12, 2025.

The report said the memo claimed the funding was in response to lawmakers’ “desire to bring governance closer to their constituents,” and listed proposed projects submitted by 26 out of 30 lawmakers. “Records show that approval was granted the same day, September 12, 2025, and funds were subsequently disbursed into accounts linked to companies presented by the legislators.

“Despite this, on-site checks and local reports suggest that none of the listed constituency projects have been executed.”

One political activist in the state, Dae Steven Deegbara, however, said on facebook thus: “Gwara Township Project for Khana Constituency 1 has passed decking level, is going on smoothly”.

Both the Speaker and the Majority Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly have rather accused the governor of using agents to incite the people of their constituencies to demand for the recall of the 26 lawmakers. They also have accused the governor of using the media to fight them. They have however not addressed the N350m said to be given to each, why it was transacted while they were on suspension, and what happened to the share belonging to the lawmakers loyal to Gov Fubara.

Conflicting signals:

Conflicting signals have continued to trail the N10.5bn saga. The lawmakers have not come out openly to admit or deny, leaving the claims to remain at the level of allegations and conjecture.

A platform called the Port Harcourt Force has published outright denial by a lawmaker who did not mention his name. The lawmaker was quoted to have denied getting such funds, asking those alleging so to show the bank accounts of the lawmakers.

It said: “This claim is not only false; it is a blatant lie from the pit of hell and a calculated attempt to distract the good people of Rivers State from the ongoing impeachment process and the real issues at stake. Go and ahead and publish concrete evidence to support your allegation. Let them also produce official documents indicating that any of the members nominated contractors or companies for the execution of constituency projects. Since they claim to be in possession of documents, this should be an easy task—if their story is true.”

Another report has however claimed that one lawmaker admitted that lawmakers collected the funds but that it was part payment of N1bn constituency fund to each lawmaker. The report quoted a lawmaker from Etche to have explained the details to his ward constituents, but no source has confirmed this.

What remains solid is the threat by Orji, political adviser to Gov Fubara to supply evidence if the lawmakers vehemently denied the allegations.

The impeachment battle may yet enter gutter stage as each camp claims to clutch deadly documents to cause maximum damage.