Allegations of financial impropriety have surfaced within the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, with a document revealing that Minister Edu Betta purportedly disbursed N585,198,500.00 into a personal account. The document, reportedly signed by Edu and addressed to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, instructed the disbursement of the sum to an individual named Oniyelu Bridget. The payment, intended for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states, was allegedly made into Oniyelu’s account.
In response to the allegations, Rasheed Zubair, the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Minister, defended the payment, stating that it followed due process. According to Zubair, the payment to Oniyelu Bridget’s account was legitimate as she serves as the Project Accountant of Grants for Vulnerable Groups. He clarified that the N585.198 million grant was meant to benefit vulnerable groups in the aforementioned states as part of the Renewed Hope Grant for Vulnerable Groups, a social intervention scheme of the Federal Government.
The controversy sparked discussions on social media, with many questioning why such a significant amount of public funds would be directed to an individual’s account. Public sector financial regulations of 2009 prohibit the payment of public funds into private accounts, citing that doing so is deemed fraudulent. This development comes in the wake of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent suspension of the National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, Halima Shehu, over alleged financial misappropriation.
Shehu was detained and questioned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with an alleged N44 billion fraud, leading to the freezing of N30 billion from the agency’s accounts. Additionally, former Minister Sadiya Umar-Farouq was invited by the EFCC for questioning regarding a financial scandal involving a contractor named James Okwete.
Source: Daily Post