The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission is set to quiz the Rivers State
House of Assembly Speaker, Otelemaba
Amachree, and other principal officers loyal
to Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
The commission has already interrogated the
embattled Majority Leader, Mr. Chidi Lloyd,
who has just been granted bail over an
attempted murder charge, assault, intent to
maim and destruction of government
property.
An independent investigation by Saturday
PUNCH showed that Lloyd was quizzed over a
separate petition, but the details of the
petition could not be ascertained as at press
time.
There are indications that he would also be
invited by the investigation team of the EFCC
to give an account of his connection with the
new allegations of fraud in the assembly.
A source close to the commission said,
"Lloyd will be investigated again. The earlier
investigation has nothing to do with the new
petition.
"EFCC has set machinery in motion for the
daunting task to dig deep into the allegations
of fraud. Apart from the speaker, his deputy
and Lloyd, chairmen of the committees
affected will also be invited.
"The charge against Lloyd at the state high
court has nothing to do with this petition,"
the source added.
He, however, did not divulge the content of
the petition, saying, "It is still being kept
under wraps for now. The commission is
careful so that people do not misinterpret its
steps."
Justice Letan Nyordee of the Rivers State
High Court, Port Harcourt, who, on Tuesday,
ordered the detention of Lloyd in custody,
granted him bail in the sum of N10m and
three sureties.
Two of the sureties, the trial judge said, must
have landed property with proof of
ownership within Port Harcourt while the
accused must deposit his travelling passport
with the court.
He added that one of the sureties must be a
civil servant of Level 16 and above in the
state civil service.
The granting of bail followed an application
filed by his counsel, Mr. Beluolisa Nwofor
(SAN) on Tuesday.
The matter has been adjourned till
November 21, for hearing of a motion to
discountenance the information provided by
the police.
Though, Lloyd's counsel hailed the judge's
decision to grant his client bail, he described
the bail conditions as "onerous."
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Rivers State
House of Assembly and the Peoples
Democratic Party in the state have disagreed
over the recent visit of the EFCC in a bid to
probe the financial management of the
House.
While the assembly has described the visit of
the anti-graft agency as unlawful and an
attempt to act out a script written by the
Presidency, the state PDP said the recent
visit of the EFCC operatives to the state was
a welcome development.
In an interview with Saturday PUNCH on
Thursday, the Deputy Speaker of the
assembly, Mr. Leyii Kwanee, said the
subsisting court injunction barring EFCC
from arresting any government official
should be respected by the agency.
Kwanee, who argued that the court order did
not in any way portray any government
official guilty of any form of financial
mismanagement, insisted that the decision of
the commission to investigate some
lawmakers at a time when the House was in
crisis was wrong.
He said, "There is a subsisting court order
that bars EFCC from investigating
government officials in the state and the
EFCC cannot investigate any government
official in the state without going to the
Appeal Court to upturn the order.
"Why is the EFCC interested in such
investigation at a time that there is a crisis in
the House? This is a script that is being acted
out. We are aware that Evans Bipi had called
on the EFCC to investigate the Speaker and
that is why the anti-corruption agency is
here.
"The EFCC's visit is on the invitation of Bipi.
But if the Presidency can hand over Bipi to
the police, then we would know that they
(Presidency) are neutral in the crisis. We
believe strongly that Bipi too should be
charged to court."
But the state Chairman of the PDP, Mr. Felix
Obuah, insisted that the EFCC should be
allowed to carry out its responsibility
without any form of hindrance.
Explaining that the criticism against the anti-
graft body was unnecessary, the state party
chairman argued that anybody who had no
skeleton in his cupboard would not be afraid
of the EFCC.
He decried the attitude of some youths, who
protested when Lloyd was granted bail by the
court.
Youths numbering up to 2,000 had protested
the presence of the EFCC operatives at the
premises of the state high court. The youths
had felt that Lloyd would be rearrested by
the agency after being granted bail.
Obuah said, "As far as I am concerned,
nobody is above investigation and nobody is
above the law. It is wrong for the youths to
have protested at the court premises. The
law must be allowed to take its due course.
"Those youths at the court premises were
sponsored by the government. We are aware
that our money is being carted away and if
the EFCC comes to town to investigate how
our money is being managed, I don't think
there is anything wrong with that."
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