Edison Ehie, the chief of staff to suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has claimed that he was offered N5 billion for impeachment plot against Mr Fubara.
Mr Ehie, who was a factional Speaker of the Rivers assembly, spoke on Sunday when he appeared as a guest on Channel TV’s Sunday Politics.
“I can also open my phone to show you, in the beginning of October 2023, when they approached me with a bribe of N5 billion. It is here on my phone.
“It was for impeachment (of Fubara). It’s here. I have it and I have printed it and distributed it, in case, in their evil imagination, they decide to attack me. I already have a son and a brother,” he said.
The chief of staff said the offer was made while he was serving as the majority leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
He did not mention who offered the N5 billion bribe to him, but it is believed he was referring to politicians from the camp of a former governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, now minister of FCT.
Messrs Wike and Fubara have been locked in a protracted fight over the control of the political structures in Rivers State, which initially split the assembly into two factions.
Twenty-seven lawmakers of the assembly led by its Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, were loyal to Mr Wike, while a three-member faction led by Speaker, Victor Oko-Jumbo, supported Mr Fubara.
