At its headquarters in Abuja, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, swung swiftly into action, Tuesday, with the grilling of the suspended Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Minister, Dr. Betta Edu, over alleged N585 million fraud in her ministry.
Responding to public outcry over the alleged diversion of the N585 million meant for payment of grants to vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Cross River and Ogun states, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Monday, suspended Edu.
Edu’s suspension came the same day that her predecessor in office, Sadiya Umar Farouq, submitted herself to the EFCC over alleged fraud of N37.17 billion under her watch.
With the salacious scandal, Edu, who at 37 is the youngest Minister in President Tinubu’s cabinet, now holds the ignoble record of being the first minister to be suspended from office since the Federal Executive Council (FEC) was inaugurated last August.
The scandal blew open when the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein, received a request from the Humanitarian Ministry that the said sum be paid into a private account. But the Accountant General refused to act on it as it contravened extant financial regulations.
President Tinubu, who seems uncompromising on the fulfillment of his Renewed Hope Agenda, put the Humanitarian Ministry under spotlight last week when he suspended Ms. Halima Shehu, National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) from office.
Halima Shehu’s suspension was connected to the alleged movement of N44 billion from the agency’s account into some suspicious accounts in the last four days of the Muhammadu Buhari Administration.
Now, Sadiya Umar Farouq, Betta Edu and Halima Shehu are telling interrogators at the EFCC Headquarters, Abuja, all they know about the various accusations slammed on them.