An advocacy group, the Network for the Actualisation of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD), has asked President Bola Tinubu to take disciplinary actions against Dr Betta Edu, minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, for authorising the payment of N585 million into a private account.
There was outrage on Friday when a memo surfaced wherein Edu asked Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein, accountant-general of the federation, to transfer the aforementioned sum to Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola, said to be project account for the Renewed Hope Grant for vulnerable groups.
The instruction for the payment is contained in a leaked letter dated December 20, 2023.
The letter, signed by the minister, was titled: “Mandate for Payment of Grant for Vulnerable Groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Lagos and Ogun States Respectively”.
Edu, in the letter, 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.
“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,” the letter reads.
“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 letter has elicited varied reactions on social media as many Nigerians questioned the rationale behind the minister’s instruction of transferring the funds to a private bank account.
In a statement on Friday, Akingunola Omoniyi, NEFGAD’s head of office, said what the minister did was “serious procurement and fiscal malfeasance that attracts serious penalties”.
Omoniyi said the treatment meted to Halima Shehu, suspended chief executive officer (CEO) of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), should also be handed to Edu.
“The recent development in the Humanitarian office has provided President Tinubu a golden opportunity to tell Nigerians and the whole world that he is ready and willing to tackle corruption in a fair, just and impartial manner by also applying same disciplinary measure (suspension) meted on NSIP CEO, Mrs Halima Shehu on the Minister for Humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Mrs Beta Edu,” the statement reads.
“Apart from the fact that Dr Edu and Mrs Halima Shehu are from different geographical divides of the country, the tendency and pattern of the allegations involving the duo are too identical and should not have attracted different approaches and measures in dealing with them by the president.
“Directing payment of public fund into private account by a public officer is a serious procurement and fiscal malfeasance that attracts serious penalty under extant laws, regulations and rules including the public procurement, Fiscal Responsibility, Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences (ICPC), Code of Conduct Acts and the Anti-money Laundering (prevention and prohibition) Act.”
Akingunola noted that the minister has serious questions to answer by instructing payment of public funds into a private account other than that of a legal entity.
In her reaction, the minister said that the payment followed due process.
In a statement on Friday, Rasheed Zubair, media adviser to the minister, said the N585 million fund for vulnerable groups followed “due process”.
Zubair said Bridget, whose bank account was stated to receive the payment, is the project accountant for grants for vulnerable groups scheme.
The media adviser said it is “legal in civil service” for a project accountant to receive payments, use funds legally and retire all receipts as evidence of the project.
He added that the circulation of the document on social media is another attempt to blackmail the minister.
“It is glaring that the same sponsored disgruntled elements in the past few days have been trying to smear the Honourable Minister, Dr Betta Edu, and stain her integrity because she alerted the Federal Government attention to the ongoing N44.8 Billion Fraud in NSIPA,” the statement reads.
“These elements have been trying to link her to a phantom fraud and are behind this latest misadventure.
“However, this latest vile effort of theirs is another infantile blackmail doomed for evisceration.
“For the avoidance, the said N585,198,500.00 was approved, and it is meant for the implementation of grants to vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states.”
Leave a Reply