Emergency Rule: Betara Admits Reps Received $5,000 as ‘Sallah Gesture,’ Not Bribe

By Gideon Njoku

In the midst of allegations of bribery against Members of the National Assembly to endorse the much criticized Emergency Rule imposed on Rivers State, a Member of the House of Representatives has admitted that each Member received the sum of $5,000  (five thousand US Dollars)

Hon. Mukhtar Aliyu Betara, Chairman House Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, admitted that each member of his Committee received that sum not as bribe to endorse  President Bola Tinubu’s Emergency Rule declaration in Rivers State but as Sallah Gift.

Betara was quoted by Jafaar Jafaar, an investigative Journalist, as clarifying to him that $5,000 was given to each Rep. Member as “Sallah Gesture”, not bribe.

According to Jafaar, the gesture Betara told him, has been the norm year after year.

In a post on his X page, Jaafar wrote:

“The Chairman of the House Committee on FCT, Mukhtar Aliyu Betara, has clarified to me that he only shared $5,000 with each member of his committee as a ‘Sallah gesture,’ not as 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.”

This clarification came following several speculations in the Social Media to the effect that each Member of the NASS received the sum of $15,000 bribe to endorse the proclamation of a state of emergency in Rivers State.