Edison Ehie, the Chief of Staff to suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has stated that he was promised N5 billion to orchestrate the impeachment of his principal.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Ehie , Fubara’s ally claimed he has evidence of the bribe offer kept 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.
“It was for impeachment. 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,” the Fubara apologist stated.
Ehie stated that the offer was made while he was the majority leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The Chief of Staff also disputed that he planned the October 30, 2023, bombing of the Rivers Assembly complex on Fubara’s orders.
George Nwaeke, the state’s former Head of Service, made the claim at a news conference last Friday.
Nwaeke claimed he saw a bag of money being handed over to Ehie at the Government House to carry out the operation, though he conceded he had no idea how much was inside.
Ehie dismissed the charges as baseless and politically driven, stating, “It is very important to clarify that I had no hand in the burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly.”
“Like everyone else, I woke up in the early hours of the 30th of October 2023 to hear of the burning down of the Rivers State House of Assembly.”
Ehie mentioned that he had instructed his lawyers to file a lawsuit against Nwaeke for criminal libel.
“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 him, and I hope he is very prepared to substantiate his claims and his allegations,” he said.
He further claimed that Nwaeke requested financial aid from him on the same day he quit as head of service.
Rivers State has been in instability since Fubara’s feud with his predecessor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
On March 18, President Bola Tinubu imposed a state of emergency in the state, suspending both the governor and his deputy.
On March 26, Rivers State’s only administrator, Ibok-Ete Ibas, suspended all political officeholders in the state.
