EFCC quizzes embattled Rivers Assemly Leader Chidi Lloyd and other lawmakers for financial crimes

Embattled Majority Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr Chidi Lloyd who was arrested for allegedly hitting an anti-Amaechi lawmaker with a fake mace may be in for more trouble as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday stormed the state capital, Port Harcourt to quiz him and other lawmakers for undisclosed financial crimes.

Lloyd was said to have been quizzed at the police detention facility where the lawmaker had been detained on charges of attempted murder.

A High Court sitting in Ahoada, Rivers State, however, granted bail to the Majority Leader on Monday, after two weeks in police detention following the fracas on the floor of the state House of Assembly.

Lloyd was said to have been questioned by the anti-graft operatives on how Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, had been financing the House.

The lawmaker is a known ally of the governor who has been embroiled in a prolonged face-off with the Presidency as well as the Peoples Democratic Party in his state.

Details of the encounter between the EFCC interrogators and Lloyd and others said to have been quizzed were not known as of press time, but sources said that the anti-graft agency was interested in the financial statement of the House.

Apart from that, it was gathered that the operatives asked questions on the funding of the House by the state Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.

Acting Head, Media, at the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the arrival of the agency’s men in Rivers, saying there was no need to inform the public through the media that anti-graft operatives were in town.

“I just confirmed that our operatives are actually in the state over an ongoing investigation that involved Lloyd and others in the South-South states. No details now because we don’t want to conduct the investigation on the pages of newspapers,” Uwujaren said.

The Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr. Leyii Kwanee, described the action of the EFCC as part of the plan to persecute Lloyd.

Kwanee explained that Lloyd’s interrogation by the EFCC had shown that the police had no case against the Majority Leader of the House.

“I have stated on several occasions that Chidi Lloyd is only being persecuted politically. If you see the dimension of the EFCC, you would begin to understand that Lloyd is being persecuted because of his support for the performing governor of the state,” the deputy speaker said.

But the leader of the five anti-Rotimi Amaechi lawmakers, Mr. Evans Bipi, described Lloyd’s interrogation by the EFCC as a right step in the right direction.

Bipi recalled that he had called on the EFCC to investigate the management of the House of Assembly funds by probing the leadership of the state legislature, including the Speaker, Mr. Otelemaba Amachree.

He disagreed with the deputy speaker that Lloyd was being persecuted as a result of his (Lloyd) support for Amaechi.

He said, “It is a right step in the right direction because Lloyd was part of the leadership of the state House of Assembly. The EFCC should interrogate him very well. Lloyd should be able to explain how the funds of the House were managed.

“What the EFCC is doing is not persecution. It (EFCC) is only carrying out its responsibility. Otelemaba Amachree should also be invited and interrogated.”


 

'Naija I hail oh' - where was EFCC before the Rivers Assembly brouhaha?!

It's an open secret that EFCC has always been a tool for political witch-hunting.