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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday said it is probing 50 bank accounts as it recovered N30bn in the alleged scandals in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
This is contained in the March edition of the EFCC Alert, an in-house magazine of the anti-graft agency.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said the body is currently investigating alleged scandals in the humanitarian affairs ministry involving the suspended minister, Betta Edu, her predecessor, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, and Ms Halima Shehu, the National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme, an agency under the humanitarian ministry.
In January, Edu was suspended by President Bola Tinubu following an alleged fraud in her ministry.
She was subsequently interrogated by the EFCC 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.
Giving an update on the probe, the EFCC chairman stated, “We have laws and regulations guiding our investigations. Nigerians will also know that they (Edu and Shehu) are already on suspension and this is based on the investigations we have done, and President Bola Tinubu has proved to Nigerians that he is ready to fight corruption.
“Moreover, with respect to this particular case, we have recovered over N30bn, which is already in the coffers of the Federal Government.
“It takes time to conclude investigations. We started this matter less than six weeks ago. There are so many angles to it.Nigerians should give us time on this matter; we have professionals on this case and they need to do things right. There are so many leads here and there.
“As it is now, we are investigating over 50 bank accounts that we have traced money into. That is no child’s play. That’s a big deal. Then you ask about my staff strength.”
The EFCC chairman urged the judiciary and the National Assembly to aid the commission in its anti-corruption fight.
