Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
At last, the Chairman of the House Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, Mukhtar Betara, has finally confirmed that members of both the lower and upper chambers of the National Assembly, did indeed received monetary gift in hard currency.
He revealed this while reacting to allegation by Jafaar Jafaar, an investigative journalists who, in a post on X, alleged that the lawmakers were given money in foreign currency to support the State of Emergency proclamation made by President Bola Tinubu.
According to the journalist, each of the lawmakers of the Nigerian Senate and the House of Representatives received $15,000 and $10,000 respectively, to approve the declaration of a State of Emergency in Rivers State.
Betara, however, said lawmakers of the House of Representatives only received $5,000 as Sallah gifts and not as bribes or inducement to support the President’s decision over the political crisis that bedeviled Rivers State.
Although he did not mention where the $5,000 as Sallah gift came from, Betara said the gesture was a long-standing tradition within the National Assembly and had no connection with the State of Emergency proclamation in Rivers.
Jafaar later wrote on X, “The Chairman of the House Committee on FCT, Mukhtar Aliyu 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.
“According to him, he maintains the tradition – like Santa Claus – every year. As we say in Hausa, not thigh but hind leg,” the journalist posted.