N585M SCANDAL: CSOs DEMAND BETTA EDU’S PROBE

Anger over the memo issued by the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, instructing the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr Oluwatoyin Madein, to pay N585m into the private bank account of a project accountant in her ministry, Bridget Oniyelu, spiked on Saturday, with the opposition parties calling for her sacking, and other anti-corruption crusaders calling for the probe of the transaction.

The Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party and civil society organisations insisted on the prosecution of Edu for money laundering.

The minister had claimed that the payment was meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos states.

The development is happening against the alleged laundering of N37bn by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development under the former minister, Sadiya Umar-Farouk.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had arrested a contractor and also grilled several directors and ex-ministry officials in connection with the case.

The latest incident coincides with the probe of three other ministers, who served under former President Muhammadu Buhari, for graft estimated at N150bn.

The opposition parties in separate interviews on Saturday, demanded the audit of the ministry from the time it was created by Buhari.

In the letter, Edu instructed the accountant-general to transfer N585,189,500 to the UBA account of one Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola.

According to the document, N219,429,750 was earmarked as “2023 grant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom state;” N73,828,750 was budgeted for Cross River State; N219,462,250 for Lagos State; and N72,468,750 for Ogun State.

The minister said the payment should be deducted from the account of the National Investment Office.

The letter read, “I hereby approve the payment of the cumulative sum of N585,189,500. These are payments for programmes and activities of the Renewed Hope grant for vulnerable groups.

“This payment should be made from the National Social Investment Office account with account number: 0020208461037 to the project accountant’s details listed above.”

The Media Assistant to the Minister, Rasheed Zubair, in a statement, said that it was legal within the civil service for such payments to be made into private accounts of staff members, especially project accountants.

“Oniyelu Bridget is the Project Accountant for the GVG from the Department of Finance, and it is legal in civil service for a staff, the project accountant, to be paid and use the same funds legally and retire the same with all receipts and evidence after the project or programme is completed,” Zubair had said.

However, the AGF, Madein, said her office did not honour the request to pay N585m into a private account as directed by the minister.

The Director of Press in the OAGF, Mr Jacob Mokwa, said in a statement on Saturday that the AGF does not make payments on behalf of MDAs.

Madein stated that her office received the minister’s request as contained in a letter referenced FMHAPA/HQ/S.208 and dated December 20, 2023, but did not honour the request.

The AGF noted that payments were usually processed by the affected ministries as self-accounting entities and no bulk payment was supposed to be made to an individual’s account in the name of the project accountant.

The statement read, “The AGF explained that although her office received the said request from the ministry, it did not carry out the payment.

“The ministry was, however, advised on the appropriate steps to take in making such payments in line with the established payment procedure.

“The AGF noted that in such situations, payments are usually processed by the affected ministries as self-accounting entities and no bulk payment is supposed to be made to an individual’s account in the name of the project accountant.

“She added that such payment should be sent to the beneficiaries through their verified bank accounts.

“Dr Madein reiterated her determination to uphold the principles of accountability and transparency in the management of public finances. She advised MDAs to always ensure that the requisite steps are taken in carrying out financial transactions.”

PDP, LP fume

The Deputy National Youth Leader of the PDP, Timothy Osadolor, said the recent happenings in the ministry had vindicated his party’s position.

Osadolor alleged that the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government was corrupt and had nothing to offer Nigerians.

He said, “We have said times without numbers that this administration is very corrupt. So, what I think Nigerians should do is that all Nigerians of goodwill should come out and call for a thorough investigation into all the ministries.

“And in the same ministry, we are aware the last minister was accused of fraud. So, let’s have an overhaul of the ministry, and let’s know the reason why the Presidency is keeping the ministry unaudited for years.”

Osadolor, who wondered if the ministry was being used to launder money for the APC said, “Nigerians want to know if this is a channel for them to recoup all the money they spent in the last election. We also deserve to know if the ministry wants to be used to stash money for future elections.

“We call for a thorough investigation to unravel all these. Nigerians are hungry enough and are tired now to even start protesting.

“We are calling for the arrest of the minister; we are calling for a thorough investigation of that ministry and that investigation shouldn’t just start now.

“I’m sure the file she (Edu) stumbled upon gave her the courage to do what she’s doing now. So, let’s extend the investigation to the tenure of President Muhammad Buhari. Nigerians deserve the truth.”

On his part, LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, alleged that the ministry was created as a conduit to divert public funds.

He said, “The ministry was created ab initio to scam Nigeria and Nigerians. We shouted about all that happened in that ministry under the watchful eyes of the then President, Muhammadu Buhari, and at the end of the day we found out that it was a monumental looting of the nation’s treasury since they created the ministry.

“The ministry was created to benefit the APC individuals. It was used for election and we knew what happened. Now under this government, they have just up the ante and you can see in the last week the revelations that have been coming out that the minister herself is working for some powerful entities in the government.