The Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Ogbonnaya Francis Nwaifuru, who is representing Izzi West state constituency, has been reportedly arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly diverting and misappropriated N60 million constituency project fund before his emergence as speaker.
According to Premium Times, Nwaifuru was picked up at about 11a.m on Friday at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, by operatives of the commission, after he ignored two previous invitations by the agency.
The EFCC said in a statement that Nwaifuru was first invited on October 20, 2015 to appear before the Enugu zonal office of the commission but did not respond to the invitation. A reminder letter was sent to him on November 19, 2015, which he also failed to respond to.
As of press time, the speaker was still being grilled by operatives of the commission as the speaker has no constitutional immunity against prosecution under the Nigerian Constitution.
His arrest came two days after operatives of the EFCC arrested three top officials of Imo State government for allegedly diverting N2 billion bailout fund given to the state by the Federal Government for payment of salary arrears of the state’s civil servants.