Abuja, March 24, 2025 | Nigeria’s political pot is boiling over again, and this time it’s about cash and credibility. By 1:41 PM WAT today, tongues are wagging after Mukhtar Aliyu Betara, Chairman of the House Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, stepped up to clear the air. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives got $5,000 each, he confirmed Monday, March 24, but it’s no bribe tied to President Bola Tinubu’s emergency rule in Rivers State. Instead, he called it a “Sallah gesture,” a Ramadan goodwill gift, not a political payoff. For a nation already on edge, it’s a claim that’s splitting opinions faster than you can say “Naira.”
The backdrop is messy. Last week, Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Assembly amid a feud with ex-Governor Nyesom Wike’s loyalists. The House greenlit it Thursday with a voice vote, a move Wole Soyinka and others slammed as a federalism gut-punch. Then came whispers: $5,000 hit lawmakers’ pockets to seal the deal. Betara, a Borno rep and ex-Speakership contender, told journalist Jaafar Jaafar it’s nonsense. “Purely coincidental,” he insisted, saying the money flowed during Sallah festivities, not as a nudge for Tinubu’s play. Posts on X echo the clash some at 10:10 WAT nod to “Sallah gesture,” others smell a rat.
Betara’s no rookie. Elected since 2007, he’s a House heavyweight, once dubbed the “Prince of the Reps” for his clout. His word carries weight, but the timing’s a thorn. Ramadan’s winding down Eid al-Fitr looms April 1 and Sallah gifts aren’t odd in Nigeria’s political playbook. Yet $5,000 per head, roughly N8 million at today’s rates, isn’t pocket change when Rivers burns. Deputy Spokesman Philip Agbese backed him Saturday, trashing bribe claims as “malicious” on Naija News. Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s team also swatted $15,000 rumors Saturday, pinning their fast-breaking to tradition, not dollars.
For folks like Tunde, a civil servant in Abuja, it’s a head-scratcher. “Sallah gift or not, why now?” he wondered over tea. The math fuels doubt: 360 reps, $5,000 each, that’s $1.8 million. A goodwill gesture, sure, but the optics sting when Nigeria’s grappling with inflation and Rivers’ oil stakes hang in the balance. X users aren’t buying it wholesale one at 11:42 WAT quipped, “Gesture or grease?” Another at 10:49 WAT asked, “Who funds these ‘gestures’?” Betara’s camp says it’s personal, not public cash, but clarity’s thin.
The Rivers crisis adds heat. Tinubu’s move, backed by a Supreme Court nod on “no functioning government,” has Wike’s fingerprints for some like APC’s Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, who Wednesday accused the President of fueling the fire. Betara’s defense sidesteps that, framing the payment as cultural, not conspiratorial. Still, Soyinka’s Sunday blast “too much power in the president’s hands” looms large, and this cash tale doesn’t quiet the skeptics.
Tonight, as Abuja hums, the story’s a tug-of-war. Betara’s pushing a clean narrative: lawmakers got a festive boost, not a bribe. Supporters see a generous vet; critics see a convenient dodge. “It’s Nigeria money talks, but so does timing,” Tunde shrugged. With no hard proof either way, it’s a trust test. Will this fade as Sallah chatter, or fuel the fire under Tinubu’s Rivers gambit? For now, the House stands firm, but the jury online and off is still out.