BREAKING: “How I Was Offered N5bn to Coordinate Fubara’s Impeachment,” Edison Ehie Speaks
Port Harcourt, Rivers state – Edison Ehie, the chief of staff to Siminalayi Fubara, the suspended governor of Rivers, has alleged that there were attempts to bribe him with N5 billion to mastermind the impeachment of his principal.
Ehie made this revelation on ‘Sunday Politics’, a programme on Channels Television aired on March 30, 2025.
Ehie, who was factional speaker of the Rivers assembly until January 2024, added that he still has evidence of the bribe offer on his phone.
“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 in my phone,” he said.
“It was for impeachment. It’s here. I have it and I have printed it and distributed it, incase in their evil imagination, they decide to attack me. I already have a son and a brother.”
As reported by The Cable, he added that the offer was made during his stint as majority leader of the Rivers house of assembly.
‘I’ll sue Nwaeke for libel’
Legit.ng reported that former Head of Service George Nwaeke, accused Governor Fubara of being behind the political crisis in the state, meeting with militants to bomb pipelines, and orchestrating the destruction of the state House of Assembly complex in 2023.
Reacting, Fubara claimed that Nwaeke was either paid or coerced to lie.
Nwaeke alleged that he was at the government house “when a bag of money was handed over to Edison for that operation, though I do not know the amount inside”.
During the programme, the chief of staff Edison Ehie, dismissed the allegation as false and politically motivated.
“I will not join issues completely with Mr George Nwaeke because I have already instructed my lawyers to file an issue of criminal libel against George Nwaeke and I hope he is very prepared to substantiate his claims and his allegations.”
Ehie said he has evidence of Nwaeke seeking financial assistance from him on the same day he resigned as head of service.
Wike vs Fubara: Tinubu takes fresh action amid Rivers crisis
Rivers has been embroiled in political crisis since Fubara fell out with Nyesom Wike, his predecessor and current minister of the federal capital territory (FCT). Both are at loggerheads over the control of the oil-rich state.
On March 18, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers and suspended the governor and his deputy.
The president also appointed a new sole administrator to oversee the state, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, who has already started work.
Wike’s security did not invade Fubara’s private residence
There were claims that FCT Minister Nyesom Wike’s security operatives attacked the private residence of the suspended governor in Rivers state.
However, the claim has been fact-checked considering the implications of the claim on Nigeria’s democracy and Rivers’ peace.
