Humanitarian Ministry Scandals: EFCC Seizes Edu, Umar-Farouq’s Passports
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has seized the passports of the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, and her predecessor, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, over the ongoing investigations into scandals in the ministry.
As the EFCC interrogated the suspended minister over the N44bn fraud uncovered in the ministry, it was learnt that managing directors of three commercial banks were also questioned on Tuesday over the fraud.
The scandal involving Edu burst open after a leaked memo revealed that the suspended minister directed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to transfer N585m to a private account owned by one Oniyelu Bridget, who the ministry claimed currently serves as the Project Accountant, Grants for Vulnerable Groups.
The minister had claimed that the N585m payment was meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states, describing the allegations against her as baseless.
The Media Assistant to the minister, Rasheed Olarewaju, said in a statement that it was legal within the civil service for such payments to be made into private accounts of staff members, especially project accountants.
In deference to public pressure, the President on Monday suspended Edu and directed her to hand over to the permanent secretary in the ministry.
Top EFCC sources confirmed the probe of the senior bank executives on Tuesday.
An impeccable EFCC source revealed that the banks were deeply involved in the fraud under investigation.
The source revealed, “The MDs of the banks were grilled by our interrogators at the EFCC headquarters on Tuesday. They were invited and are being probed in connection with the uncovered N44bn fraud and the N585m involving Halima Shehu and Betta Edu.
“The suspended minister and the coordinator have both given new revelations during their interrogations, and the investigation is still ongoing.’’
Giving his opinion on the unfolding scandals, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, accused the All Progressives Congress of using the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and poverty alleviation as a cash cow for successive governments.
Atiku said the suspension of the minister, Edu, was commendable, but not enough.
Atiku in a statement by his Special Assistant, Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Tuesday, described it as unfortunate that a programme that was designed to lift over 100 million Nigerians out of extreme poverty had allegedly become a cash cow for successive APC governments.
He said, “While Tinubu deserves commendation for suspending Edu, we believe this is a belated move. Firstly, he had no business appointing her as a minister of such a sensitive ministry in the first place. Tinubu put politics ahead of competence, hence this scandal.
“What experience did Betta have in the development sector? How was Imaan Ibrahim, with her wealth of experience, overlooked? How did the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, stand as Betta Edu’s referee during her clearance at the Senate?”
Atiku who called for reform of the Ministry, alleged that it was not only Edu that was involved in the transactions.
“Betta Edu should not be the fall guy. Others who have remotely and wickedly benefitted from money that was meant for poor Nigerians ought to be fished out, probed, and prosecuted too. It is demonic and tendentiously wicked to steal in the name of the poor, he stated.
The statement read in part, “There is a need for the government to reform the humanitarian affairs ministry and other interventionist programmes that had become an ATM and POS for those in power.
“He noted that the fact that the previous Humanitarian Affairs Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq, was also being probed for N37bn fraud was evidence that immediate and urgent actions need to be taken to reform the ministry.
“Even during the COVID-19 lockdown, Umar-Farouq continued to implement the school feeding programme. She ridiculously claimed that the food would be delivered to the students at home since schools were shut.
“Today, Betta Edu claims that over three million households got N20,000 each during the Yuletide. Sadly, there is no evidence of millions of Nigerians getting such money. This shows that money has just been going into private pockets.
“The scandal that we are contending with is not about Betta Edu, nor about Halima Shehu, or any other rogue element for that matter. It is about a problem of systemic corruption through which the APC continues to bleed the treasury, ironically, asphyxiating the poor and vulnerable segment of the country, all in the name of caring for them.
“The APC has weaponized poverty and hunger to control the minds of the vulnerable masses, and it is even worse that they have devised a method to use poverty as an instrument of official corruption.”
Reacting, the APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, cautioned the former vice president against jumping to conclusions, noting that Edu is not guilty until the allegations against her are proven.
He berated Atiku and the PDP, saying they faced more corrupt allegations than Edu and the APC.
Ibrahim stated, “Atiku, from his record, it was said somewhere that he read elementary law. And if indeed he read law at whatever level, even if it is a kindergarten level, ought to know that the presumption of the law on an accused is that he is innocent until proven guilty.’’
