That the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), uncovered N37.1 billion fraud, allegedly laundered in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development during the tenure of its pioneer minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouk, did not come to this medium and many compatriots as a surprise.
The EFCC document alleged that, “Between 2018 and 2023, the subject (Okwete) received the sum of N37,170,855,753.44 from the coffers of the Federal Government linked to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. The monies were sent to 38 bank accounts domiciled in five legacy commercial banks. The suspect transferred N6,746,034,000.00 to Bureau De Change Operators, N540,000,000.00 withdrawn in cash, N288,348,600.00 used to purchase cars, and used N2,195,115,000.00 to purchase choice properties within Abuja and Enugu State. Fifty-three companies were traced to the suspect. He used 47 of the companies to lift Federal Government contracts amounting to N27,423,824,339.86. Okwete is associated with 143 bank accounts in 12 commercial banks in which 134 of the 143 accounts are corporate accounts linked to different companies.”
It would be recalled that in 2020, the nation was outraged by the discovery that humongous sums were said to have been expended by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to feed school children who were at home during the COVID-19 lockdown. Another anti-corruption agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), disclosed then that it uncovered monumental scam in the ministry’s school feeding programme. Its then Chairman, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, said the Commission unravelled N2.67 billion in personal accounts, being payment made to some federal colleges for school feeding during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. He explained that other discoveries by the ICPC included N2.5 billion diverted by a deceased worker in the Ministry of Agriculture while 18 buildings, 12 business premises and 25 plots of land were recovered in the ministry.
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Despite requests by Civil Society Organisations and other stakeholders, the then minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouk, refused to publish details of the beneficiaries of the said school feeding programme during the lockdown.
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Neither are we taken aback by another racket in the subset of the ministry (the on-going N44 billion fraud probe) allegedly involving the National Co-ordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Halima Shehu, who was formerly in charge of the Conditional Cash Transfer programme during Umar-Farouk’s tenure.
In December, 2023, Mrs Shehu had claimed openly without showing any supporting evidence that over 1.5 million households in the country had received N20,000 each under the Conditional Cash Transfer programme within two months and that her agency aimed to reach 15 million households!
Adding to the web of scandals was the request by the (now suspended) Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, to the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) to pay N585,189,500.00 for the implementation of grants to vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos States into a personal account of a ministry’s official.
The alleged memo from the minister to the AGF reads: “I hereby approve the payment for the accumulative sum of five hundred and eighty-five million, one hundred and eighty-nine thousand and five hundred naira (N585,189,500.00). These are payments for programmes and activities of the Renewed Hope grants for vulnerable groups. Details provided below: 2023 grant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom State, N219,429,750.00; 2023 grant for vulnerable groups in Cross Rivers, N73,828,750.00; 2023 grant for vulnerable groups in Lagos State, N219,462,250.00 and grant for vulnerable groups in Ogun State, N72,468,750.00 with total at N585,189,500.00. The payment should be made from the National Social Investment office account with account number 0020208461037 to the project’s accountant’s details listed above as Onyelu Bridget, UBA account.”
According to Chapter 7, Section 713 of Public Sector Financial Regulations of 2009, “Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private bank account. Any officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention.”
