The major grouse of the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly in their push to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara is the alleged unwillingness of the governor to approve a whopping N30 billion, or N650 million for each legislator for constituency projects.
It was learnt that the lawmakers had demanded N1 billion each for their constituency projects for the 30 members for the year 2025, but only received N350 million approved during the period of the six-month emergency rule under Ibok Ibas.
The lawmakers, however, deemed the N350 million grossly inadequate and on return from the emergency rule began piling pressure on Gov. Fubara to raise a supplementary budget to cover the supposed shortfall of N650 million.
Gov. Fubara’s alleged reluctance to release the money to the lawmakers formed a major plank of the impeachment plot, it was gathered.
Confirming the development, a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly representing Etche Constituency I, Ignatius Onwuka, speaking during a ward meeting with his constituents, acknowledged that the lawmakers indeed received the N350 million, but insisted that the amount was grossly inadequate to execute the projects earlier earmarked across their constituencies.
he said each lawmaker was originally meant to receive ₦1 billion to fully implement constituency projects, with the ₦350 million serving only as an initial tranche.
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Onwuka alleged that the remaining ₦650 million was expected to be released by the state government upon the governor’s resumption of office after the state of emergency, but that this has not happened.
The lawmaker further claimed that despite the state allegedly having over ₦600 billion at its disposal, the governor has refused to release the balance, thereby stalling several constituency projects already earmarked for execution by the lawmakers.
He disclosed that the funding shortfall was one of the major reasons behind the lawmakers’ impeachment move, which he described as a collective decision taken by the assembly leadership.
Interestingly, it was learnt that virtually all the 26 pro-Wike lawmakers who collected the N350 million in September 2025 few days before the expiration of the emergency rule, merely tucked the money into their inner pockets without any evidence of projects being executed anywhere.
Most of them were said to have presented fake companies as contractors for the execution of the projects since they originally did not have any intention of carrying out the projects.
Some concerned residents are calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the whereabouts of the N350 million constituency fund with a view to apprehending those who collected and diverted the funds.
