By Adedapo Adesanya
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has released the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs Betta Edu, on bail after hours of grilling her in respect of the approval she gave for the payment of about N585 million of the ministry’s funds into the private account of a civil servant.
President Bola Tinubu on Monday suspended Mrs Edu from office and ordered EFCC to investigate the approval and other related scandalous revelations, following a public outrage expressed on the issue.
The President also ordered EFCC Chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede, “to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transactions” involving the ministry and “one or more agencies thereunder”.
Mrs Edu, 37, before her suspension was the youngest in the President’s cabinet. Before her ministerial appointment last August, she was Cross River State Commissioner for Health and the National Women Leader of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).
EFCC had immediately summoned her to appear at its headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, January 9.
She honoured the invitation on Tuesday morning and was held in custody till night when she was granted bail.
Also, Mrs Edu’s predecessor, Mrs Sadiya Umar-Farouk, the pioneer minister of the ministry then christened as the Ministry of Social Development, Disaster Management and Humanitarian Affairs, returned to the commission for questioning yesterday after she was released on bail on Monday.
Mrs Umar-Farouk is being investigated over a staggering N37.1 billion allegedly laundered by officials of the ministry during her tenure as minister.
Mrs Halima Shehu, the suspended National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), is still undergoing investigation at the EFCC.
Mrs Shehu was responsible for overseeing the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Programme initiated by former President Muhammadu Buhari to give succour to vulnerable groups and individuals.
She is being probed for alleged embezzlement of N44.8 billion.
The EFCC had said it recovered about N39.8 billion out of N44.8 billion allegedly embezzled from the government account by Mrs Shehu.
Business Post gathered that EFCC has also seized the travel documents of the embattled women; Mrs Edu, her predecessor Mrs Umar-Farouq as well as Mrs Shehu.
Aduragbemi Omiyale